
Glass. 

Book: J± 



/ 






CLAIMING TO BE 



THE CONSTITUTIONS 



or 



THE HOLY APOSTLES, 

INCLUDING THE CANONS; 

YVHISTON'S VERSION, REVISED FROM THE GREEK: 



' : .- 



A PRIZE ESSAY, 

AT THE UNT/ERSITY OF BONN, 

UPON 

THEIR ORIGIN AND CONTENTS; 

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN, 

BY IRAH CHASE, D.D. 



NEW YORK: 

D. APPLETON & COMPANY, 200 BROADWAY 

PHILADELPHIA: 

GEORGE S. APPLETON, 14S CHESNUT STREET. 

M DCCC XLYLTI. 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1847, by 

IRA II CHASE, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 



boston: 

DICKINSON PRINTING E3TAULISUMENT PAMRELb Si MOORE, 

No. 52 Washington Street. 






the Candid and Intelligent, 

OF ALL PARTIES, 

THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED ; 

IN THE HOPE, THAT IT MAY CONTRIBUTE SOMEWHAT 

TOWARDS HELPING THEM 
TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WAS THE STATE OF THE CHURCH AT AN EARLY PERIOD, 

AND 
TO MAKE SUCH REFLECTIONS AS MAY REASONABLY BE EXPECTED, 

AT THE PRESENT TIME, 

FROM 
DISCIPLES OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST. 



PREFACE 



In reading these Constitutions and Canons of the 
Apostles, the Christian of the present day will be likely 
to exclaim, A splendid specimen of pious fraud! A 
strange mixture of good and of evil ! He will readily 
perceive, however, that he has before him documents 
exceedingly important for illustrating the ecclesiastical 
history of a very remote period ; — a period during a 
portion of which, at least, heathenism was dominant ; the 
sighing of Christian prisoners, was heard ; the blood of 
martyrs was flowing. Here, too, are seen indications of 
the bitter controversies which rent the church before and 
after the Nicene Council, assembled by Constantine the 
Great, A.D. 325; here, some of the seminal principles 
from which gradually arose monasticism and the Papal 
hierarchy, and other great departures from the spirit and 
practice of the primitive Christians. And yet, with all 
the error, and superstition, and bitterness, and fraud, 
there is so much that is true, so much that is opposed 
to superstition, so much of kindness, moderation, and 



VI PREFACE. 

wisdom, so much of intelligence, and of acquaintance with 
the sacred Scriptures, so much that is elevated and mani- 
festly Christian, so much that inculcates holiness upon 
the clergy and upon the laity, so much that is appropriate 
and impressive in some of the liturgical pieces ; and, for 
the most part, there is such a tone of earnestness and sin- 
cerity, that, in the absence of the lights which we now 
enjoy, multitudes might easily have admitted the claims 
here set forth to apostolical authority. 

This could the more easily be done by the aid of the 
representation that certain secret matters were intrusted 
to the rulers of the church, and were to be made known 
by them, at their discretion, to the initiated only, and not 
to all. For then, if some article of faith or of practice 
was not taught in the Scriptures, nor promulgated at all, 
for a century, or for several centuries, after the age of 
the apostles, no matter. Who, the doubter might be 
asked, who can prove that it may not have been pre- 
served secretly, and transmitted from one Bishop to 
another, till the proper time for its promulgation'? . . 
Something like this, which has been denominated the 
Discipline of the Secret, is indicated in the eighty-fifth 
Canon, just at the close of this work : ; The Constitu- 
tions dedicated to you, the Bishops, by me, Clement, in 
eight books, which it is not fitting to publish before all, 
because of the mysteries contained in them.' Here, then, 
it would seem, we have, at large, the secret code estab- 
lished by the apostles, respecting all the affairs of the 
church. 

Clement of Alexandria, it is said, speaks of the con- 



PREFACE. VU 

cealed theories, in contrast with the simple instructions 
imparted to the Catechumens. Jerome, in his reply to a 
friend who had consulted him respecting an obscure pas- 
sage of the apostle Paul on the sacrifice of Melchisedek, 
says, ' You are not to suppose that Paul could not easily 
have explained himself; but the time was not come for 
such explanation. He sought to persuade the Jews, and 
not the faithful, to whom the mystery might have been 
delivered without reserve.' Basil, in his work on the 
Holy Spirit, c. 27, remarks, that \ We receive the dogmas 
transmitted to us by writing, and those which have 
descended to us from the apostles beneath the veil and 
mystery of oral tradition. . . . The apostles and fathers 
who from the beginning prescribed certain rites to the 
church, knew how to preserve the dignity of the myste- 
ries by the secrecy and silence in which they enveloped 
them. For what is open to the ear and the eye is no 
longer mysterious. For this reason, several things have 
been handed down to us without writing, lest the vulgar, 
too familiar with our dogmas, should pass from being 
accustomed to them to the contempt of them.' 

Schelstrate, in a Latin work, printed at Pome in 1685, 
on the Discipline of the Secret (De Disciplina Arcani), 
contends strenuously for its apostolic origin. And 
Thomas Moore, in his Travels of an Irish Gentleman in 
search of a Peligion, accounts for the apparent heterodoxy 
of the fathers of the third century by the Discipline of 
the Secret. ' With Tertullian,' he remarks, at the close 
of his tenth chapter, ' may be said to have commenced 
that change in the public language of the fathers on this 



Vlll PREFACE. 

subject,' (the Eucharist) — ' that circumlocution, and not 
unfrequently ambiguity, in their notices of this mystery, 
— of which before there had been no example, and of 
which the Protestants have, in their despair, taken 
advantage, as affording some shadow of plausibility to 
their arguments against the true Catholic doctrine of the 
Eucharist. The system of secrecy to which such ambigui- 
ties, and, as it would seem, inconsistencies, in these holy 
writers may be traced, forms too remarkable a feature in 
the annals of the early church, and is, indeed, too closely 
connected with the history of this and other Christian 
doctrines, to be dismissed without receiving some farther 
consideration.' In the next chapter he adds, ' The truth 
seems to be that the principle of this policy was acted 
upon, in the Christian church, from the very beginning. 
So strongly has not only St. Paul, but our Saviour him- 
self, inculcated a sacred reserve in promulgating the mys- 
teries of the faith, that there can be no doubt the 
succeeding teachers of the church would, in this, as in 
all things else, follow their divine Master's precept. But 
though as a principle, this reverential guard over the 
mysteries was observed, doubtless, from the very first rise 
of Christianity, it does not appear to have been strictly 
enforced, as a rule of discipline, till about the close of the 
second century.' 

Thus ingeniously this gifted Papal advocate pleads for 
what Milman, in his History of Christianity (b. iv. c. '2.), 
well denominates 4 that esoteric doctrine within which 
lurked every thing which later ages thought proper to 
dignify by the name of the traditions of the church.' 



PREFACE. IX 



There is another consideration which may cast some 
light npon the origin of the spurious books, which, at an 
early period, were circulated under the name of our Lord 
himself, or of his apostles, or of apostolical men. It was 
believed by many that it is right and commendable to 
practise deception in order to promote a good cause. 
The fact is mentioned and lamented by various Christian 
writers of established reputation. And, alluding to the 
new Platonists, Mosheim, in one of his Dissertations per- 
taining to Ecclesiastical History (vol. i. p. 200), says, 
' Those who from among these philosophers attached 
themselves to the Christian religion, were so far from 
abandoning this opinion, when they became Christians, 
that, on the contrary, they approved it in word and deed, 
and propagated it more widely than has generally been 
supposed. Hence, the early ages were prolific in fictitious 
books, and in the disingenuous arts of controversy. I 
would not indeed deny that, under the influence of natural 
corruption, very many could have fallen into the way of 
deeming it right to deceive for the cause of religion ; nor 
do I think that, before this kind of Platonic wisdom 
passed into the church, none of those who had professed 
Christianity adopted this most reprehensible practice. 
But what I affirm is, that, from the time in which the 
disciples of Christ listened favorably to these philoso- 
phers, this pestilence was much more extensively diffused 
than before, and that it corrupted the manners and the 
teaching even of most estimable men ; and, therefore, was 
exceedingly detrimental to the church. Of this, the 
books which distinguish themselves by the names of 



X PREFACE. 

Clement of Rome, and Dionysius the Areopagite, to say 
nothing of others, are a lasting monument.' 

The Jewish, Platonizing author of the work ascribed 
to Clement, entitled, An Epitome of Peter's Preaching in 
his travels abroad, has repeatedly represented this apostle 
as approving and encouraging deception, for the purpose 
of overthrowing his great antagonist, Simon Magus. 
The venerated philosopher Pythagoras, too, it was under- 
stood, had employed deception successfully, to reform the 
morals of the vicious. Plato himself had taught that it 
might be used by rulers. In the third book of his dia- 
logue on the Republic, he says, ' If lately we reasoned 
right, and if, indeed, a lie be unprofitable to the gods, but 
useful to men, in the way of a drug, it is plain that such 
a thing is to be intrusted only to the physicians, but not 
to be touched by private persons. ... It belongs, then, 
to the governors of the city, if to any others, to make a 
lie, with reference either to enemies or to citizens, for the 
good of the city ; but all the rest must abstain from what 
is false.' 

The passage is quite explicit. It needs no comment. 
And although it was very natural for an ardent admirer 
of Plato's excellences to endeavor, as Schleiermacher has 
done in his Introduction to the Republic, to ' refer this 
innocent deceit to the mythical style,' yet few will be sat- 
isfied with such a gloss. Impartial readers, in general, 
will admire the gentleness and modesty with which Ritter, 
in his elaborate History of Philosophy, expresses his dis- 
sent, saying, ' I question whether this is a legitimate 
exposition of Plato's doctrine.' Origen, it is certain, and 



PREFACE. XI 

others, in the church and out of it, who were imbued 
more or less with the prevalent philosophy of their times, 
understood the words in their obvious import. And, in 
the circumstances of the early Christian fathers, it is easy 
to see what must have been the tendency of the doctrine, 
wherever it had influence. It must have contributed to 
strengthen all other tendencies and temptations to the use 
of fraud hi vanquishing opponents, and in preserving the 
multitude from danger. The reasoning was short and 
conclusive : It is right for rulers to deceive for the pur- 
pose of benefiting the city. If this be right for those who 
are only civil rulers, and to secure only temporal benefits, 
how much more clearly must it be right, and even 
meritorious, for those who have been divinely constituted 
spiritual rulers, and to secure spiritual and everlasting 
benefits ! 

At the same time, it ought to be borne in mind that 
many, both of the clergy and of the laity, may have 
heartily disapproved the practice of pious frauds. Indeed, 
the multitude were not to know any thing of it. From 
the second century there has descended to us an unques- 
tionable reference to one case at least, of an author's 
being deprived of his office as a Christian minister for 
preparing a spurious book, even (as he alleged) with good 
intentions. Speaking of the Acts or Travels of Paul and 
Thecla, a work written probably near the close of the 
first century or the beginning of the second, Tertullian, 
in his book on Baptism (c. 17), mentions that J the Pres- 
byter in Asia who composed that writing, as if he had 
been able to increase Paul's fame, being convicted of it, 



Xll PREFACE. 

and having confessed that he did it out of love to Paul, 
was deposed.' 

After the wonderful events of the age in which Chris- 
tianity was introduced, unwritten, floating reports would 
easily become exaggerated, and adorned or corrupted, 
according to the habits of thinking in different circles 
and parties, without any deliberate, fraudulent purpose. 
And then, some may have committed them to writing, 
with the design of preserving what, without due investi- 
gation, they supposed to be veritable accounts, or of 
making a popular book, or of conveying what they 
thought to be important religious instruction. Some, 
too, may have written somewhat after the manner of the 
historical romance, without intending to have their pro- 
ductions regarded as histories, properly speaking; or 
they may have proceeded, substantially, on the principle 
of the descriptive and polished dialogue, assumed, as it 
were, with the knowledge and consent of the reader, 
merely or chiefly as a convenient mode of communicating 
the lessons of wisdom. Cicero, in the preface to one of 
his works in this form (Qusestiones Academical), says to 
his friend, ' I suppose, when you read, you will wonder 
that we said between ourselves what we never said. But 
you know the manner of dialogues.' The license, how- 
ever, belonging to these kinds of writing, and to parable 
and poetry, to fable and allegory, it is not always easy to 
keep within its proper limits. 

A thorough discussion respecting the spurious books 
among the Christians in the early centuries, would of 
itself fill a large volume. To say nothing here of others, 



PREFACE. XUL 



Dr. Lardner, in his Credibility of the Gospel History, has, 
with his usual care and candor, presented many valuable 
facts and considerations on this subject. In the second 
part of that work (c. 29), under the head of Spurious 
Writings of the second Century, he has given a brief and 
interesting view of the Acts of Paul and Thecla, the 
Sibylline Oracles, the Testaments of the Twelve Patri- 
archs, the Eecognitions, the Clementine Homilies, and 
the Clementine Epitome. A complete collection of these 
and the kindred productions that are still extant, accom- 
panied with the proper illustrations, would be a welcome 
contribution to our sources of ecclesiastical, literary, and 
even artistical history. 

In the latter part of the seventeenth century, Cotele- 
rius, at Paris, rendered an important service by his 
edition of the Apostolical Fathers, with various append- 
ages. Early in the next century, this was enlarged and 
greatly improved by Le Clerc, and published at Amster- 
dam in two folio volumes. About the same time, Arch- 
bishop Wake published his English version of what he 
regarded as ' the genuine Epistles of the Apostolical 
Fathers, St. Clement, St. Poly carp, St. Ignatius, St. Bar- 
nabas, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Martyrdoms of 
St. Ignatius and St. Polycarp.' About the same time, 
also, Fabricius, at Hamburg, by his Falsely-entitled Code 
(Codex Pseudepigraphus) of the Old Testament, in two 
volumes, and by his Codex Apocryphus of the New Tes- 
tament, in three volumes, made a noble beginning in 
respect to a collection of the writings generally acknowl- 
edged to be not genuine. The book of Enoch, trans- 



XIV PREFACE. 

latecl into English by Bishop Lawrence, from an Ethiopic 
Manuscript, was published at Oxford, in 1821. Of the 
Codex Apocryphus of the New Testament, Dr. Thilo, 
Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the University of 
Halle, is publishing an improved edition, with important 
additions and critical apparatus. It will be to the learned 
an invaluable treasure; for, however worthless some of 
the pieces may be in themselves, they may be made to 
shed light on some dark places in ecclesiastical antiqui- 
ties. 

Near the close of the last century, Jones, in his New 
and Full Method of settling the Canonical Authority of 
the New Testament, occupied most of the first two 
volumes with learned discussions relative to the apoc- 
ryphal books, giving a list of those which are lost, and 
inserting in parallel columns the original text and an 
English version of a considerable number of those which 
are now extant, namely, the Gospel of the Birth of Mary; 
the Protevangelion, or an historical account of the birth 
of Christ, and the perpetual Virgin Mary his mother, by 
James the Less, cousin and brother of the Lord Jesus, 
chief apostle and first bishop of the Christians in Jeru- 
salem ; the First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ ; 
Thomas's Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ; the 
epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus, king of Edessa ; 
the Gospel of Nicodemus, formerly called the Acts of 
Pontius Pilate ; the epistle of Paul the Apostle to the 
Laodiceans ; the epistles of Paul the Apostle to Seneca, 
with Seneca's to Paul ; and the Acts of Paul and Thccla. 

In 1820, these pieces in English, and the epistles of 



PREFACE. XV 



the Apostolical Fathers and the Shepherd of Hernias, as 
translated by Archbishop Wake, with the Apostles' 
Creed, were published in London, under the title of The 
Apocryphal New Testament. It is to be regretted that 
the manner in which these are brought forward seems to 
indicate some unhappy impressions on the mind of the 
editor, respecting our canonical books. If any new light 
on the canon can be imparted, let it be welcomed. But 
let no one hastily infer that a counterfeit disproves the 
existence, or destroys the value of what is genuine. On 
the contrary, let any man seriously ask himself, whether 
it does not afford some presumptive evidence in favor of 
both. And if a book, unheard of before, be forged under 
the name of the Apostles, to give sanction to certain 
doctrines or precepts, it is good evidence that there had 
been made on the public mind a deep and abiding 
impression of the sacred character and authority of those 
men, as the Apostles of Jesus Christ. Those men must 
have wrought the signs of Apostles, to the satisfaction of 
those who knew them the most intimately ; and, by their 
lives and labors, and acknowledged connection with our 
Saviour, they must have established their claim of being, 
preeminently, the teachers of his religion. 

Beausobre, who wrote more than a hundred years ago, 
in his celebrated Histoire Critique de Manichee et du 
Manicheisme, after a careful discussion respecting many 
spurious productions of the early ages, has appended to 
the second book of his work a Discourse in which he 
shows most clearly, that the forged and apocryphal writ- 



XVI PREFACE. 



ings, instead of weakening, confirm the evidence in favor 
of the Christian religion. And more recently, Kleuker, 
a German critic, in his Copious Investigation of the 
evidences for the genuineness and credibility of the docu- 
ments of the Christian religion, has devoted the fifth 
volume to the consideration of the Apocryphal writings 
connected with Christianity ; or of the origin, contents, 
and object of the various uncertain or fabricated produc- 
tions, having reference more or less to the evangelical 
history and doctrine, in comparison with those documents 
whose Apostolic origin and object can be proved by 
internal and external evidences. In his closing chapter, 
he comes decidedly and expressly to the same grand 
result to which Beausobre had arrived. Lardner, too, 
who cannot be suspected of any superstitious prejudice, 
had arrived at the same result, in his immortal work 
which has already been mentioned. After the most 
extensive and patient examination of ancient writings, 
sacred and profane, — genuine, spurious, orthodox, heret- 
ical, Jewish, and heathen, — he remarks, in the conclu- 
sion, ' Much has been said by some in late times about 
spurious and apocryphal books, composed in the early 
days of Christianity. I hope that all objections of that 
sort have been answered or obviated in the preceding 
volumes. . . . These apocryphal books confirm the his- 
tory of the genuine and authentic Scriptures of the New 
Testament. . . . They are written in the names of such 
as our authentic Scriptures say were apostles and com- 
panions of apostles. They all suppose the dignity of our 



PREFACE. XV11 



Lord's person, and that a power of working miracles, 
together with a high degree of authority, had been con- 
veyed by him to his apostles.' 

Happily, there are many clear and conclusive treatises, 
of almost every form and extent, enabling the inquirer to 
satisfy himself in regard to the claims of the authentic 
documents of our holy religion. If he awake to the 
duties which he owes to God, to himself, and to others ; 
if he do justice to the evidence, and proceed in the exam- 
ination with a sincere and earnest desire to know and 
obey the truth, duly bearing in mind his responsibleness 
in the sight of Heaven, he may confidently expect to be 
preserved from the pernicious snares of error, whether 
ancient or modern. Every one that asketh, receiveth ; and 
he that seelceth, findeth. 

The 'Apostolical Constitutions' seem to have exerted, 
silently and indirectly, a powerful influence during several 
of the early ages of the church. They could not fail to 
facilitate the introduction and prevalence of the doctrines 
and usages which they sanctioned. And then, whatever 
might befall these writings, the doctrines and usages, 
when once established, could easily continue, under the 
sanction of custom and of oral tradition, except so far as 
they might be disturbed or modified by some new influ- 
ence. In the fourth century arose the Arian controversy, 
a storm which fiercely agitated Christendom, more than 
sixty years, and did not entirely die away for ages. After 
the many fluctuations connected with that controversy, 
and long after the ascendency of the views of Athanasius, 
it was found that the Constitutions had been corrupted, 
b 



XV111 PREFACE. 

probably by some Arian hand ; and accordingly a decree 
against them was passed by a general council at Constan- 
tinople, A.D. 692 ; saving, however, the authority of the 
eighty-five canons. It has been thought that the decree 
was owing, also, in some measure, to latent political 
reasons. Be this as it may, the work, in most respects, 
continued, and it still continues, to exhibit what had long 
been to many the beau-ideal of the church. And the 
principal interest which we, of the present day, must feel 
in the Constitutions, is that which arises from their cast- 
ing light on ecclesiastical history and antiquities. In 
this view, it is hoped that the following pages will be 
found useful to intelligent and discriminating readers. 

In revising the version here presented, Regard has been 
had chiefly to the Greek text of the Constitutions, as 
published with notes in the Amsterdam edition of the 
Apostolical Fathers, and to the Greek text of the canons, 
as recently edited by Bruns in his Bibliotheca Ecclesias- 
tica, under the supervision of Neander. The Septuagint 
translation of the Old Testament being the one used by 
the author and his contemporaries, the references in the 
margin are made to the books, chapters, and verses, as 
they stand in that Greek translation. Some of its pecu- 
liarities which receive no countenance from the Hebrew 
original, may here be traced, as having had a decided 
influence on the theology and reasoning of the early 
fathers. 

The Kssay on the Origin and Contents of these Consti- 
tutions is from the pen of Dr. 0. C. Krabbe, now a 
Professor in the University of Kiel. To all who are pre- 



PREFACE. XIX 

pared to enter on a fundamental investigation it furnishes 
important aid in solving one of the most difficult problems, 
and in understanding the state of the ancient church. 
The same author's Dissertation on the Canons of the 
Apostles, which was lately translated by me from the 
Latin, and published at Andover, in the Bibliotheca 
Sacra and Theological Review, is added, ^in order to give 
a completeness to the examination. Gieseler, in his Text 
Book of Ecclesiastical History, mentions these two works 
as containing the authorities connected with the subject 
of the Constitutions and the Canons. 

It would be wrong to detain the reader by apologies, 
or criticisms, or commendations. In the few instances in 
which it has seemed desirable to add any thing, it has 
been added by the translator, and included in brackets. 
Whatever may be though^ of some of the opinions ad- 
vanced by the author, he is certainly entitled to a fair 
hearing. And an Apostle has said,^ Prove all things ; 
hold fast that which is good. 

Boston, November 8, 1847. 



\ 



^ 



THE 



APOSTOLICAL CONSTITUTIONS, 



BOOK I. Concerning the Laity. 



II. Concerning Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons. 



III. Concerning Widows. 



IV. Concerning Orphans. 



V. Concerning Martyrs. 



VI. Concerning Schisms. 



VTJ. Concerning Deportment, and the Eucharist, 
and Initiation into Christ. 



VIII. Concerning Gifts, and Ordinations, and 
Ecclesiastical Canons. 



CONTENTS 



BOOK I. 



Chaptee i. Concerning Covetousness. 

ii. That we ought not to return injuries, nor revenge ourselves on him that 

doeth us wrong. 
in. Concerning the adornment of ourselves, and the sin which ariseth thence. 
iv. That we ought not to be over curious about such as live wickedly, but 

to be intent upon our own proper employment. 
v. What books of Scripture we ought to read, 
vi. That we ought to abstain from all the books of those that are out of the 

church, 
vn. Concerning a bad woman. 

viii. Concerning the subjection of a wife to her husband, and that she must be 
loving and modest. 
ix. That a woman must not bathe with men. 
x. Concerning a contentious and brawling woman. 



BOOK II. 

Chapter i. That a Bishop must be well instructed, and experienced in the word. 

ii. What ought to be the character of a Bishop, and of the rest of the clergy. 

in. In what things a Bishop is to be examined before he is ordained. 

iv. That charitable distributions are not to be made to every widow, but that 

sometimes a woman who has a husband is to be preferred ; and that 

no distributions are to be made to any one who is given to gluttony, 

drunkenness, and idleness. 

v. That a Bishop must be no accepter of persons in judgment ; that he 

must be gentle in his conversation, and temperate in his diet. 
vi. That a Bishop must not be given to filthy lucre, nor be a surety, nor 

an advocate. 
vn. What ought to be the character of the initiated. 

viii. Concerning a person falsely accused, or, on the other hand, a person 
convicted. 



XXIV CONTENTS. 

ix. That a Bishop ought not to receive bribes. 

x. That a Bishop, who, by wrong judgment, spareth an offender, is himself 
guilty, 
xi. How a Bishop ought to judge offenders, 
xn. An Instruction, how a Bishop ought to behave himself to the Penitent, 
xin. That we ought to beware how we make trial of any sinful course, 
xiv. Concerning those who affirm that a Penitent is not to be received into 
the church. That a righteous person, although he converse with a 
sinner, will not perish with him. That no person is punished for 
another ; but every one must give an account of himself. That we 
must assist those who are weak in the faith ; and that a Bishop must 
not be governed by any turbulent person among the laity. 
xv. That the Priest must neither overlook offences, nor be rash in punishing 

them, 
xvi. Of Penance. The manner of it. and rules concerning it. 
xvil. That a Bishop must be unblamable, and a pattern for those who are 

under his charge, 
xvn i. That a Bishop must take care that his people do not sin, considering that 
he is a watchman. 
xix. That a shepherd who is careless of his sheep incurreth penalty ; and that 

a sheep who doth not obey the shepherd is punished. 
xx. How the governed are to obey the Bishops who are set over them. 
xxi. That it is a dangerous thing to judge without hearing both sides, or to 
determine punishment against a person before he is convicted, 
xxn. That David, the Ninevites, Hezekiah, and his son Manasseh are emi- 
nent examples of repentance. 
xxiii. Amon may be an example to such as sin with a high hand. 
xxiv. That Christ Jesus our Lord came to save sinners by repentance. 
xxv. Of first-fruits and tithes ; and after what manner the Bishop is himself 
to partake of them, or to distribute them to others. 
xxvi. According to what pattern and dignity every order of the clergy is ap- 
pointed by God. 
xxvii. That it is a horrible thing for a man to thrust himself into any sacer- 
dotal office ; as did Corah and his company, Saul, and Uzziah. 
xxviii. Of an entertainment ; and how each distinct order of the clergy is to be 
treated by those who invite them to it. 
xxix. What is the dignity of a Bishop and of a Deacon. 
xxx. After what manner the laity are to be obedient to the Deacon. 
xxxi. That the Deacon must not do any thing Without the Bishop, 
xxxn. That the Deacon must not make any distributions without the consent 

of the Bishop, because that will turn to the reproach of the Bishop. 
xxxiii. After what manner the Priests are to be honored and to be reverenced 

as our spiritual parents. 
xxxiv. That the Priests are to he preferred before the rulers and kings. 
w\v. That both the Law and the Gospel prescribe offerings. 

xxxvi. Mention of the Ten Commandments; and after what manner they pre- 
scribe. 

xxwii Concerning accusers and false accusers ; and how a judge is not rashly 
either to believe them or to disbelieve them, but after an accurate ex- 
amination. 



CONTENTS. XXV 

xxxviii. That they who sin are to be privately reproved, and the Penitent to be 
received according to the Constitution of our Lord. 
xxxix. Examples of repentance. 

xl. That we are not to be implacable towards him who hath once or twice 

offended. 
xli. How we ought to receive the Penitent, and how to bear with them that 
sin, and when to cut them off from the church. 
xlii. That a judge must not be a respecter of persons. 
xliii. How false accusers are to be punished. 
xliv. That the Deacon is to ease the burden of the Bishops, and to order the 

smaller matters himself. 
xlv. That contentions and quarrels are unbecoming Christians. 
xlvi. That believers ought not to go to law before unbelievers ; nor ought 
any unbeliever to be called for a witness against believers. 
xlvi i. That the judicatures of Christians ought to be held on the second day of 

the week. 
xlviii. That the same punishment is not to be inflicted for every offence, but 
different punishments for different offenders. 
xlix. What are to be the characters of accusers and witnesses. 

l. That former offences sometimes render subsequent ones credible. 
Li. Against judging without hearing both sides. 
lii. The caution observed at heathen tribunals before the condemnation of 

criminals, affordeth Christians a good example. 
liii. That Christians ought not to have contentions one with another. 
liv. That the Bishops must, by their Deacon, put the people in mind of the 
obligation they are under to live peaceably together. 
lv. An enumeration of several instances of divine Providence, and how, in 
^every age, from the beginning, God hath invited all men to repent- 
ance. 
lvi. That it is the will of God that men should be of one mind, in matters of 
religion, like the heavenly Powers. 
lvii. An exact description of a church, and the clergy ; and what things in 
particular, every one is to do in the solemn assemblies of the clergy 
and laity for religious worship. 
lviii. Of commendatory letters in favor of strangers, lay-persons, clergymen, 
and bishops ; and that those who come into the church-assemblies, are 
to be received without regard to their quality. 
lix. That every Christian ought to frequent the church diligently both 

morning and evening. 
lx. The vain zeal winch the heathen and the Jews show in frequenting their 
temples and synagogues is a proper example and motive to excite 
Christians to frequent the church. 
lxi. That we must not prefer the affairs of this life to those which concern 

the worship of God. 
lxii. That Christians must abstain from all the impious practices of the 

heathen. 
lxiii. That no Christian who will not work must eat; as Peter and the rest of 
the apostles were fishermen, Paul and Aquila, tentmakers : and Jude 
the son of James, a husbandman. 



XXIV CONTENTS. 

ix. That a Bishop ought not to receive bribes. 

x. That a Bishop, who, by wrong judgment, spareth an offender, is himself 
guilty, 
xi. How a Bishop ought to judge offenders. 
xii. An Instruction, how a Bishop ought to behave himself to the Penitent. 
xiii. That we ought to beware how we make trial of any sinful course, 
xiv. Concerning those who affirm that a Penitent is not to be received into 
the church. That a righteous person, although he converse with a 
sinner, will not perish with him. That no person is punished for 
another ; but every one must give an account of himself. That we 
must assist those who are weak in the faith ; and that a Bishop must 
not be governed by any turbulent person among the laity. 
xv. That the Priest must neither overlook offences, nor be rash in punishing 

them. 
xvi. Of Penance. The manner of it, and rules concerning it. 
xvn. That a Bishop must be unblamable, and a pattern for those who are 

under his charge. 
xviii. That a Bishop must take care that his people do not sin, considering that 
he is a watchman. 
xix. That a shepherd who is careless of his sheep incurreth penalty ; and that 

a sheep who doth not obey the shepherd is punished. 
xx. How the governed are to obey the Bishops who are set over them. 
xxi. That it is a dangerous thing to judge without hearing both sides, or to 
determine punishment against a person before he is convicted. 
xxn. That David, the Ninevites, Hezekiah, and his son Manasseh are emi- 
nent examples of repentance. 
xxiii. Amon may be an example to such as sin with a high hand. 
xxiv. That Christ Jesus our Lord came to save sinners by repentance. 
xxv. Of first-fruits and tithes; and after what manner the Bishop is himself 
to partake of them, or to distribute them to others. 
xxvi. According to what pattern and dignity every order of the clergy is ap- 
pointed by God. 
xxvu. That it is a horrible thing for a man to thrust himself into any sacer- 
dotal office ; as did Corah and his company, Saul, and Uzziah. 
xxvin. Of an entertainment ; and how each distinct order of the clergy is to be 
treated by those who invite them to it. 
xxix. What is the dignity of a Bishop and of a Deacon. 
xxx. After what manner the laity are to be obedient to the Deacon. 
xxxi. That the Deacon must not do any thing Without the Bishop, 
xxxn. That the Deacon must not make any distributions without the consent 

of the Bishop, because that will turn to the reproach of the Bishop, 
xxxni. After what manner the Priests are to be honored and to be reverenced 

as our spiritual parents. 
xxxiv. That the Priests are to be preferred before the rulers and kings, 
xxxv. That both the Law and the (Jo^]>el prescribe offerings. 
xxxvi. Mention of the Ten Commandments; andafter what manner they pre- 
scribe. 
xxxvii Concerning accusers and false accusers ; and howajudge is not rashly 
either to believe them or to disbelieve them, but after an accurate ex* 
animation. 



CONTENTS. XXV 

xxxviii. That they who sin are to be privately reproved, and the Penitent to be 
received according to the Constitution of our Lord. 
xxxix. Examples of repentance. 

xl. That we are not to be implacable towards him who hath once or twice 

offended. 
xli. How we ought to receive the Penitent, and how to bear with them that 
sin, and when to cut them off from the church. 
xlii. That a judge must not be a respecter of persons. 
xliii. How false accusers are to be punished. 
xliv. That the Deacon is to ease the burden of the Bishops, and to order the 

smaller matters himself. 
xlv. That contentions and quarrels are unbecoming Christians. 
xlvi. That believers ought not to go to law before unbelievers ; nor ought 
any unbeliever to be called for a witness against believers. 
xlvii. That the judicatures of Christians ought to be held on the second day of 

the week. 
xlviii. That the same punishment is not to be inflicted for every offence, but 
different punishments for different offenders. 
xlix. What are to be the characters of accusers and witnesses. 

l. That former offences sometimes render subsequent ones credible. 
li. Against judging without hearing both sides. 
lii. The caution observed at heathen tribunals before the condemnation of 

criminals, affordeth Christians a good example. 
liii. That Christians ought not to have contentions one with another. 
liv. That the Bishops must, by their Deacon, put the people in mind of the 
obligation they are under to live peaceably together. 
lv. An enumeration of several instances of divine Providence, and how, in 
severy age, from the beginning, God hath invited all men to repent- 
ance. 
lvi. That it is the will of God that men should be of one mind, in matters of 
religion, like the heavenly Powers. 
lvii. An exact description of a church, and the clergy ; and what things in 
particular, every one is to do in the solemn assemblies of the clergy 
and laity for religious worship. 
lviii. Of commendatory letters in favor of strangers, lay-persons, clergymen, 
and bishops ; and that those who come into the church-assemblies, are 
to be received without regard to their quality. 
lix. That every Christian ought to frequent the church diligently both 

morning and evening. 
lx. The vain zeal which the heathen and the Jews show in frequenting their 
temples and synagogues is a proper example and motive to excite 
Christians to frequent the church. 
lxi. That we must not prefer the affairs of this life to those which concern 

the worship of God. 
lxii. That Christians must abstain from all the impious practices of the 

heathen. 
lxiii. That no Christian who will not work must eat ; as Peter and the rest of 
the apostles were fishermen, Paul and Aquila, tentmakers : and Jude 
the son of James, a husbandman. 



XXVI CONTENTS. 



BOOK III. 

Chapter i. That those who are chosen widows ought to be not under sixty years 
of age. 
ii. That we must avoid the choice of younger widows, because of suspicion. 
in. Of what character the widows ought to be, and how they ought to be sup- 
ported by the Bishop. 
iv. That we ought to be charitable to all sorts of persons in want. 
v. That the widows are to be very careful of their deportment, 
vi. That women ought not to teach, because it is unseemly ; and what women 

followed our Lord, 
vn. What are the characters of widows falsely so called. 
viii. That a widow ought not to accept of alms from the unworthy, nor ought 
a Bishop, nor any other of the faithful. 
ix. That women ought not to baptize ; because it is impious, and contrary 

to the doctrine of Christ. 
x. That a layman ought not to perform a priestly work, — baptism, or sac- 
rifice, or laying on of hands, or blessing. 
xi. That none but a Bishop or a Presbyter, none even of the inferior ranks 
of the clergy are permitted to do the offices of the Priests ; that ordi- 
nation belongeth wholly to the Bishop, and to no other person, 
xii. The rejection of all uncharitable actions. 

xin. How the widows are to pray for those who supply their necessities. 
xiv. That she who hath been kind to the poor ought not to boast, and tell 
abroad her name, according to the Constitution of the Lord, 
xv. That it doth not become us to revile our neighbors, because cursing is 
contrary to Christianity. 
xvi. Concerning the divine initiation of holy baptism. 
xvn. What is the meaning of baptism into Christ ; and on what account every 

thing therein is said and done. 
xviii. Of what character he ought to be who is initiated. 
xix. Of what character a Deacon ought to be. 

xx. That a Bishop ought to be ordained by three or by two Bishops, but 
not by one ; for that would be invalid. 



BOOK IV. 

Chapter I. That it is highly commendable to receive orphans kindly, and adopt them. 
ii. How the Bishop ought to provide for the orphans. 
in. Who ought to be supported, according to the Lord's Constitution. 
iv. Concerning the love of money. 

v. With what fear men ought to partake of the Lord's oblations, 
vi. Whose oblations are to be received, and whose are not to be received, 
vn. That the oblations of the unworthy, while they are such, do not only not 
propitiate God, but, on the contrary, provoke him to indignation. 



CONTENTS. XXV11 

vin. That it is better to present to the widows from our own labors, though 
it be inconsiderable and few contributions, than to present those which 
are many and large, received from the ungodly. For it is better to 
perish by famine, than to receive an oblation from the ungodly. 
ix. That the people ought to be exhorted by the Priest to do good to the 
needy, as saith Solomon the wise. 
x. A Constitution, that if any one of the ungodly by force will cast money 
to the Priests, they spend it in wood and coals, but not in food. 
xi. Of Parents and Children, 
xn. Of Servants and Masters. 

xiii. In what things we ought to be subject to the rulers of this world. 
xiv. Of Virgins. 



BOOK V. 

Chapter i. That it is reasonable for the faithful to supply, according to the Consti 
tution of the Lord, the wants of those who, by the unbelievers, are 
afflicted for the sake of Christ. 
ii. That we are to avoid intercourse with false brethren, when they continue 

in their perversity, 
in. That we ought to afford a helping hand to such as are plundered for the 

sake of Christ, although we should incur danger ourselves. 
iv. That it is a horrible and destructive thing to deny Christ. 
v. That we ought to imitate Christ in suffering, and with zeal to follow his 

patience, 
vi. That a believer ought neither rashly to run into danger, through secu- 
rity ; nor to be over-timorous, through pusillanimity ; but to fly away 
for fear ; yet, if he fall into the enemy's hand, to strive earnestly on 
account of the crown that is laid up for him. 
vn. Several demonstrations concerning the resurrection, concerning the 
Sibyl, and what the Stoics say concerning the bird called the Phoenix. 
vin. Concerning James the brother of the Lord, and Stephen the first martyr. 
ix. Concerning false Martyrs. 
x. A moral admonition, that we are to abstain from vain talking, obscene 

talking, jesting, drunkenness, lasciviousness, and luxury. 
xi. An admonition, instructing men to avoid the abominable sin of idolatry. 
xn. That we ought not to sing a heathen or an obscene song ; nor to swear 
by an idol, because it is an impious thing, and contrary to the knowl- 
edge of God. 
xiii. A catalogue of the feasts of the Lord which are to be kept ; and when 

each of them ought to be observed. 
xiv. Concerning the Passion of our Lord ; and what was done on each day 
of his sufferings ; and concerning Judas ; and that Judas was not 
present when the Lord delivered the mysteries to his disciples. 
xv. Of the great week ; and on what account they enjoin us to fast on 
Wednesday and Friday. 



XXVlll CONTENTS. 

xyi. An enumeration of the prophetical predictions -which declare Christ ; 
whose completion though the Jews saw, yet out of the evil temper of 
their mind they did not believe he was the Christ of God, and con- 
demned the Lord of glory to the cross. 
xvu. How the Passover ought to be celebrated. 
xviii. A Constitution concerning the great Passover week. 
xix. Concerning the watching all the night of the great Sabbath, and con- 
cerning the day of the resurrection, 
xx. A prophetic prediction concerning Christ Jesus. 



BOOK VI. 

Chapter i. Who they were that ventured to make schisms, and did not escape pun- 
ishment. 
ii. That it is not lawful to rise up against either the kingly or the priestly 

office. 
in. Concerning the virtue of Moses, and the incredulity of the Jewish nation, 

and what wonderful works God did among them, 
iv. That he maketh schism, not who separateth himself from the wicked, but 

who departeth from the godly, 
v. On what account Israel, falsely so named, is rejected, — a demonstration 

from the prophetic predictions. 
vi. That even among the Jews there arose the doctrine of several heresies, 

hateful to God. 
vn. Whence the heresies sprang, and who was the ringleader of their impiety. 
viii. Who were the successors of Simon's impiety, and what heresies they 
set up. 
ix. How Simon, desiring to fly by some magical arts, fell down headlong 
from on high, at the prayers of Peter, and broke his feet, and hands, 
and ankle-bones. 
x. How the heresies differ from each other, and from the truth. 
xi. An exposition of apostolical preaching, 
xn. To those that confess Christ, but are desirous to judaize. 
xiii. That Ave must separate from heretics. 

xiv. Who were the preachers of the catholic doctrine, and which are the com- 
mandments given by them. 
xv. That we ought neither to rcbaptize, nor to receive that baptism which is 

given by the wicked; which is not baptism, but a pollution, 
xvi. Concerning books with false inscriptions. 
xvu. Matrimonial precepts concerning clergymen. 

xvu i. An exhortation commanding to avoid the communion of the impious 
heretics, 
xix. To those who speak evil of the Law. 
xx Which is the law of nature, and which is that afterwards introduced, and 
whv it was introduced. 



CONTENTS. XXIX 

xxi. That we who believe in Christ are under grace, and not under the servi 

tude of that additional law. 
xxn. That the law for sacrifices is additional ; which Christ, when he came, 
took away. 
xxiii. How Christ became a fulfiller of the law 5 and what parts of it he caused 

to cease, or changed, or transferred, 
xxiv. That it pleased the Lord, that the law of righteousness should be mani- 
fested also by Romans. 
xxv. How God, on account of their impiety towards Christ, made the Jews 
captives, and placed them under tribute. 
xxvi. That we ought to avoid the heretics, as the corrupters of souls. 
xxvii. Of some Jewish and Gentile observances. 
xxviii. Of the love of boys, adultery, and fornication, 
xxix. How wives ought to be subject to their own husbands ; and husbands 

ought to love their own wives. 
xxx. That it is the custom of Jews and Gentiles to observe natural purgations, 
and to abominate the Remains of the dead ; but that all this is contrary 
to Christianity. 



BOOK VII. 



Chapter i. That there are two ways; the one natural, of life, and the other intro- 
duced afterwards,, of death ; and that the former is from God, and the 
latter of error, from the snares of the adversary. 
n. Moral exhortations of the Lord's Constitutions agreeing with the ancient 
prohibitions of the divine laws. The prohibition of anger, envy, cor- 
ruption, adultery, and every forbidden action. 
in. Prohibition of conjuring, murder of infants, perjury, and false witness. 
iv. Prohibition of evil speaking, and wrath, of deceitful conduct, idle words, 

falsehood, covetousness, and hypocrisy. 
v. Prohibition of malignity, acceptation of persons, prolonged anger, mis- 
anthropy, and detraction, 
vi. Concerning augury and enchantments. 
vii. Prohibition of murmuring, arrogance, pride, and audacity. 
viii. Of long-suffering, simplicity, meekness, and patience. 
ix. That it is our duty to esteem our Christian teachers above our parents ; 
the former being the means of our well-being, the other only of our 
being. 
x. That we ought not to separate ourselves from the saints, but to mak? 
peace between those that quarrel, to judge righteously, and not to ac- 
cept persons, 
xi. Concerning him that is double-minded, or of little faith, 
xii. Of doing good. 
xiii. How masters ought to behave themselves to their servants ; and how 

servants ought to be subject. 
xiv. Concerning hypocrisy, and obedience to the laws, and confession of sins. 



XXX CONTENTS. 

xv. Concerning the regard due to parents, 
xvi. Concerning the subjection due to the king and to rulers. 
xvii. Concerning the pure conscience of those that pray. 
xviii. That the way which was afterwards introduced by the snares of the ad- 
versary, is full of impiety and wickedness, 
xix. That we must not turn from the way of piety, either to the right hand 
or to the left, is the exhortation of the lawgiver, 
xx. That we ought not to despise any of the sorts of food that are set before 
us, but gratefully and orderly to partake of them, 
xxi. That we ought to avoid the eating of things offered to idols, 
xxii. A Constitution of our Lord, how we ought to baptize, and into whose 
death. 
xxiii. Which days of the week we ought to fast, and which not, and for what 

reasons. 
xxiv. What sort of people they ought to be who 'offer the prayer that was given 
by the Lord, 
xxv. A mystical thanksgiving. 
xxvi. A thanksgiving at the divine participation. 
xxvii. A thanksgiving in respect to the mystical ointment. 
xxviii. That we ought not to be indifferent about fellowship. 
xxix. A Constitution concerning oblations. 
xxx. How we ought to assemble together and celebrate the festival day of 

our Saviour's resurrection, 
xxxi. AVhat qualifications they ought to have who are to be ordained, 
xxxn. A prediction concerning events which are to occur. 
xxxiii. A prayer declarative of God's various Providence, 
xxxiv. A prayer declarative of God's various creation. 
xxxv. A prayer with thanksgiving declarative of God's care over the beings he 

hath made 
xxxvi. A prayer commemorative of the incarnation of Christ ; and his various 

Providence to the saints. 
xxxvu. A prayer containing a memorial of Providence, and an enumeration of 
the various benefits afforded to the saints by the Providence of God 
through Christ. 
xxxviii. A prayer for the assistance of the righteous. 
xxxix. How the Catechumens are to be instructed in the elements. 

xl. A Constitution, how the Catechumens are to be blessed by the priests in 

their initiation , and what things are to be taught them. 
xli. The renunciation of the adversary, and the dedication to the Christ of 

God. 
xlii. A thanksgiving in respect to the anointing with the mystical oil. 
xli ii. A thanksgiving concerning the mystical water. 
xliv. A thanksgiving concerning the mystical ointment. 
xlv. A prayer of the newly initiated. 

xlvi. Who they were whom the Holy Apostles sent and ordained. 
xlvii. A morning prayer. 
xlvi 1 1. An evening prayer. 
xlix. A prayer at dinner. 



CONTENTS. XXXI 



BOOK VIII. 



Chapter i. On whose account the miraculous powers are put forth. 
ii. Concerning unworthy Bishops and Preshyters. 

in. That to make Constitutions concerning those things which are to be per- 
formed in the churches, is of great consequence. 
iv. Concerning Ordinations. 
v. Form of prayer for the ordination of a Bishop. 
vi. The Divine liturgy in which is the bidding prayer for the Catechumens. 
vn. Prayer for the Energumens. 
viii. Prayer for the persons about to be baptized. 
ix. The imposition of hands, and prayer for the Penitents. 
x. The bidding prayer for the faithful. 
xi. Form of prayer for the faithful. 

xii. A Constitution of James, the brother of John, the son of Zebedee. 
xiii. The bidding prayer for tlfc faithful, after the Divine oblation. 
xiv. The bidding prayer after the participation. 
xv. Form of prayer after the participation. 
xvi. Concerning the ordination of Presbyters, a Constitution of John, who 

was beloved by the Lord, 
xvn. Concerning the ordination of Deacons, a Constitution of Philip, 
xvin. Form of prayer for the ordination of a Deacon, 
xix. Concerning a Deaconess, a Constitution of Bartholomew. 
xx. Form of prayer for the ordination of a Deaconess. 
xxi. Concerning Sub-deacons, a Constitution of Thomas. 
xxn. Concerning Readers, a Constitution of Matthew. 
xxiii. Concerning Confessors, a Constitution of James the son of Alpheus. 
xxiv. The same Apostle's Constitution concerning Virgins. 
xxv. The Constitution of Lebbeus, who was surnamed Thaddeus, concerning 

Widows. 
xxvi. The same Apostle concerning an Exorcist. 
xxvu. Simon the Cananite, concerning the number necessary for the ordination 

of a Bishop, 
xxvin. The same Apostle's Canons concerning Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons, 
and the rest of the clergy. 
xxix. Concerning the blessing of water and of oil, a Constitution of Matthias. 
xxx. The same Apostle's Constitution concerning first-fruits and tithes. 
xxxi. The same Apostle's Constitution concerning the remaining oblations. 
xxxn. Various canons of Paul the Apostle concerning those that present them- 
selves to be baptized ; whom we are to receive, and whom to reject, 
xxxin. On what days servants are not to work. 
xxxiv. At what hours, and why we are to pray. 
xxxv. A Constitution of James the brother of Christ, concerning evening 
prayer, 
xxxvi. A bidding prayer for the evening, 
xxxvu. A thanksgiving for the evening, 
xxxvin. A thanksgiving for the morning. 
xxxix. A prayer, with imposition of hands for the morning. 
xl. Form of prayer for the first-fruits. 



XXX11 CONTENTS. 

xi.r. A bidding prayer for those who have fallen asleep. 

\in. Bow and when we ought to celebrate die memorials of the faithful de- 
parted j and that we ought then to give somewhat out of their goods 
to the poor. 

xi.i 1 1. That memorials or mandates do not at all profit those who die wicked. 

xi.iv. Concerning drunkards. 

xiv. Of receiving those who are persecuted for Christ's sake. 

xlvi. That every one ought to remain in that rank in which he is placed, and 
not seize for himself the offices which are not intrusted to him. 

xlvi i. The Ecclesiastical Canons. 



CONSTITUTIONS 

OF THE 

HOLY APOSTLES, 

BY CLEMENT, BISHOT AND CITIZEN OF ROME 

OR, 

CATHOLIC DOCTRINE. 



BOOK I. 

CONCERNING THE LAITY. 

The Apostles and Elders to all those who from among the Gen- 
tiles have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace and peace 
from the Almighty God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, be multi- 
plied to you in the acknowledgment of him. 

The catholic church is the plantation of God, and his beloved 
vineyard ; containing those who have believed in his unerring \ ?f ^ 
divine religion ; who are the heirs by faith of his everlasting 
kingdom ; who are partakers of his divine influence, and of the 
communication of the Holy Spirit; who are armed and inwardly 
strengthened with his fear, through Jesus ; who enjoy the benefit of 
the sprinkling of the precious and innocent blood of Christ ; who 
have free liberty to call the Almighty God, Father ; being fellow- 
heirs and joint partakers of his beloved Son. Hearken to the holy 
doctrine, ye who enjoy his promises, as being delivered by the com- 
mand of your Saviour, and agreeable to his glorious words. Take 
1 



2 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK I. 

care, ye children of God, to do all things in obedience to God ; and 
in all things please Christ, who is our Lord. For if any man follow 
unrighteousness, and do those things that are contrary to the will of 
God, such a person will be accounted by God as the disobedient 
heathen. 



CHAPTER I. 

Against Covetousness. 

Abstain, therefore, from all unlawful desires and from injustice. 
2fc°ii. } For it is written in the Law, Thou shalt not covet thy neigh- 
bors wife, nor his field, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, 
nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbor's ; because 
all coveting of these things is from the evil one. For he that covet- 
eth his neighbor's wife, or his man-servant, or his maid-servant, is 
already in his mind an adulterer and a thief ; and if he do not re- 
pent, he is condemned by our Lord Jesus Christ; through whom 
glory be to God for ever. Amen. For he saith in the Gospel, reca- 
st*. \ pitulating, and confirming, and fulfilling the ten command- 
ments of the Law, It is written in the Law, Thou shalt not commit 
adidtery : But I say unto you ; that is, I said in the Law by Moses, 
but now I say unto you myself, Whosoever shall look on his neighbor's 
wife to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her already in 
his heart. Such a man is condemned of adultery who coveteth his 
neighbor's wife in his mind. But he that coveteth an ox or an ass, 
doth not he design to steal them ? to apply them to his own use, 
and to lead them away ? Or again, he that coveteth a field, and 
continueth in such a disposition, doth not he wickedly contrive how 
to remove the landmarks, and so compel the possessor to part witn 
somewhat for nothing ? For the prophet somewhere saith, Woe to 
5- a 28 h, S those ivho join house to house, and lay field to field, that 
they may deprive their neighbor of somewhat which was his* Where- 
fore it is said, Must ye alone inhabit the earth? For these things 
JJfttJ have been heard in the ears of the Lord of hosts. And 
elsewhere, Cursed be he who removeth his neighbor's landmarks ; 
S e u! \ an d a tt the people shall say Amen. Wherefore Moses saith, 
Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmarks, which thy fathers 
have set. 



BOOK I.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 3 

Upon this account, therefore, terrors, death, tribunals, and con- 
demnations from God, follow such as these. But as to those who 
are obedient to God, there is one law of God, simple, true, living, 
which is this : Do not that to another which thou hatest | T is! 4: 
another should do to thee. Thou wouldst not that any one should 
look upon thy wife with an evil design to corrupt her. Do not thou, 
therefore, look upon thy neighbor's wife with a wicked intention. 
Thou wouldst not that thy garment should be taken away. Do not 
thou, therefore, take away another's. Thou wouldst not be beaten, 
reproached, insulted. Do not thou, therefore, treat any other in the 
like manner. 



II. 

That we ought not to return injuries, nor revenge ourselves on him 
that doeth us wrong. 

But if any one curse thee, do thou bless him. For it is written 
in the book of Numbers, He that blesseth thee is blessed, Ja4: 9. 
and he that curseth thee is cursed. In the same manner it is writ- 
ten in the Gospel, Bless them that curse you. .Being injured, \ J^f; 
do not avenge yourselves, but bear it with patience ; for the Scrip- 
ture speaketh thus : Say not thou, I will avenge myself on mine 
enemy for what injuries he hath done me: but wait; that the Lord 
may right thee, and bring vengeance upon him who hath injured thee. 
For, again, in the Gospel he saith, Love your enemies ; do \ jj*$; 
good to them that hate you; and pray for them who despitefully use 
you, and persecute you ; and ye shall be children of your Father who 
is in heaven ; for he maheth his sun to rise on the evil and on the 
good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Let us, 
therefore, beloved, attend to these commandments, that, doing them, 
we may be found to be children of light. 

Bear, therefore, with one another, ye servants and sons of God. 
Let the husband not be insolent nor arrogant towards his wife ; 
but compassionate, bountiful, desiring to please his own wife, and 
treat her honorably and obligingly, endeavoring to be agreeable to 
her. 



CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK I. 



III. 

Concerning the adornment of ourselves, and the sin which ariseth 

thence. 

Do not adorn thyself in such a manner as may entice another 
woman to thee. For if thou art overcome by her, and sinnest with 
her, eternal death will overtake thee from God ; and thou wilt be pun- 
ished with sensible and bitter torments. Or if thou dost not perpe- 
trate such a wicked act, but shakest her off, and refusest her, in this 
case thou art not wholly innocent, even though thou are not guilty 
of the crime itself, but only of ensnaring her by thine embellish- 
ment to desire thee ; for thou art the cause that she was so affected, 
that by her desire after thee she was guilty of adultery with thee ; 
yet thou art not so guilty, because thou didst not send to her who was 
ensnared by thee, nor didst thou desire her. Since, therefore, thou 
didst not deliver up thyself to her, thou shalt find mercy with the 
E i4, d i7 20: \ Lord thy God, who hath said, Thou shalt not commit adul- 
tery ; and, Thou shalt not covet. For if such a woman, upon sight of 
thee, or unseasonable meeting with thee, was smitten in her mind, and 
sent to thee, but thou, as a religious person, didst refuse her ; yet, 
because she was wounded in her heart by thy beauty, and youth, 
and adorning, so that she fell in love with thee, thou wilt be found 
guilty of her transgression, as having been a cause of her stum- 
ilfV." \ bling ; and shalt inherit a woe. Wherefore, pray thou to 
the Lord God, that no mischief may befall thee on this account ; 
for thou art not to please men, so as to commit sin, but God, so as 
to attain holiness of life, and be partaker of everlasting rest. 

That beauty which God by nature hath bestowed on thee, do 
not further beautify ; but modestly diminish it before men. Thus 
do not permit the hair of thy head to grow too long, but rather cut 
it short ; lest, by nicely combing thy hair, and wearing it long, and 
anointing thyself, thou draw upon thyself such ensnared or ensnar- 
ing women. Nor do thou wear over-fine garments, to seduce any ; 
nor do thou, with evil subtilty, affect over-fine stockings or shoes for 
thy feet, but only such as suit the measures of decency and useful- 
ness. Nor do thou put upon thy fingers a ring that hath a golden 
bezel. For all these ornaments are signs of lasciviousness ; and if 



BOOK I.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 5 

thou be solicitous about them, in an improper manner, thou wilt not 
act as becometh a good man. For it is not lawful for thee, a 
believer and a man of God, to permit the hair of thy head to grow 
long, and to collect it into a tuft or a braided crown, nor so to sepa- 
rate it as to keep it divided, nor to puff it up, nor by nice combing 
and platting to make it curl, nor to tinge it with yellow ; since the Law 
forbiddeth, saying in its additional precepts, Ye shall not \ af/aftl 
make to yourselves curls and round rasures. Nor is it right to destroy 
the hair of the chin, and unnaturally change the form of a man. 
For the Law saith, Ye shall not mar your beards. God the Creator 
hath made it seemly for women to have no beard, but he hath deter- 
mined that it is Unsuitable for men. But if thou do these things to 
please men, in contradiction to the Law, thou wilt be abominable 
with God, who created thee after his own image. If, therefore, 
thou wilt be acceptable to God, abstain from all those things which 
he hateth ; and do none of those things that are displeasing to him. 



IV. 

That we ought not to be over-curious about such as live wickedly ', but 
to be intent upon our oivn proper employment. 

Thou shalt not be as a wanderer and gadder abroad, rambling 
about the streets, without just cause, to spy out such as live wick- 
edly. But, by minding thine own trade and employment, endeavor 
to do what is acceptable to God. And, keeping in mind the oracles 
of Christ, meditate on them continually. For the Scripture saith 
to thee, Thou shalt meditate in his Laiv, day and night ; ^Deut. V: ?! 
when thou walkest in the field, and when thou sittest in thine house, 
and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up, that thou may est 
have understanding in all things. Nay, although thou be rich, and 
do not need a trade for thy maintenance, be not one that wandereth 
about, and walketh abroad at random. But either go to some that 
are believers and of the same religion, and confer and discourse 
with them about the lively oracles of God ; — 



6 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK I. 

V. 

What books of Scripture we ought to read. 

Or if thou stay at home, read the Law, the books of the Kings, 
and the Prophets ; sing the Hymns of David ; and peruse diligently 
the Gospel, which is the completion of the Scriptures that have been 
mentioned. 



VI. 

That we ought to abstain from all the boohs of those that are out of 

the church. 

Abstain from all the heathen books ; for what hast thou to do 
with such foreign discourses, or laws, or false prophets, which sub- 
vert the faith of the unstable ? What defect dost thou find in the 
Law of God, that thou shouldst have recourse to those heathenish 
fables ? For if thou hast a mind to read history, thou hast the 
books of the Kings; of works of wisdom and 'poetry, thou hast 
those of the Prophets, of Job, and the Proverbs ; in which thou wilt 
find greater depth of sagacity than in all the heathen poets and 
sophisters, because these are the words of the Lord, the only wise 
God. If thou desirest something to sing, thou hast the Psalms ; if 
the origin of things, thou hast Genesis ; if laws and statutes, thou 
hast the glorious Law of the Lord God. Do thou, therefore, utterly 
abstain from all strange and diabolical books. 

Nay, when thou readest the Law, think not thyself bound to 
observe the additional precepts. Abstain from them ; if not from 
all of them, yet from some of them, that are of this character. Read 
them only for the sake of history, in order to the knowledge of 
them, and to glorify God, that he hath delivered thee from so great 
and so many bonds. Propose to thyself to distinguish what rules 
were from the law of nature, and what were added afterwards, or 
were such additional rules as were introduced and given to the Isra- 
elites after the making of the calf. For the Law containeth those 
precepts which were spoken by the Lord God before the people fell 
into idolatry, and made a calf, like the Egyptian Apis ; that is, the 



BOOK I.] THE HOLT APOSTLES. 7 

ten commandments. But as to those bonds which were further 
laid upon them after they had sinned, do not draw them upon thy- 
self. For our Saviour came for no other reason than that he might 
deliver those that were obnoxious thereto from that wrath which was 
reserved for them ; that he might fulfil the Law and the Prophets, 
and that he might abrogate or change those secondary bonds which 
were superadded to the rest of the Law. For therefore doth he 
call to us, and say, Come unto me, all ye that labor and \\\?%. 
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

When, therefore, thou hast read the Law, which is agreeable to 
the Gospel and to the Prophets, read also the books of the Kings, 
that thou mayest thereby learn which of the kings were righteous, 
and how they were prospered by God ; and how the promise of eter- 
nal life continued with them from him. But those kings who 
departed from God soon perished in their apostasy, by the righteous 
judgment of God, and were deprived of his life, inheriting, instead 
of rest, eternal punishment. Wherefore, by reading these books, 
thou wilt be much strengthened in the faith, and edified in Christ, 
whose body and member thou art. 

Moreover, when thou walkest abroad in public, and hast a mind 
to bathe, make use of that bath which is appropriated to men, lest, 
by discovering thy body in an unseemly manner to women, or by 
seeing a sight not seemly for men, either thou be ensnared, or thou 
ensnare and entice to thyself those women who easily yield to such 
temptations. Take care, therefore, and avoid such things, lest thou 
admit a snare upon thine own soul. 



VII. 

Concerning a bad woman. 
For let us learn what the sacred Word saith, in the book of Wis- 



Prov. 
1- 



dom: My son, keep my words, and hide my commandments \f. 
with thee. Say unto Wisdom, thou art my sister, and make understand- 
ing familiar with thee ; that she may keep thee from the strange and 
wicked woman, in case such an one accost thee with siveet words. 
For from the window of her house she looketh into the street to see if 
she can espy some young man among the foolish children, without 
understanding, walking in the market place, in the meeting of the 



8 CONSTITUTIONS OP [BOOK I. 

street near her house, and talking in the dusk of the evening, or in 
the silence and darkness of the night. A woman meeteth him with 
the appearance of a harlot, ivho stealeth away the hearts of young 
men. She rambleth about, and is dissolute. Her feet abide not in 
her house. Sometimes she is without, sometimes in the streets, and 
lieth in wait at every corner. Then she catcheth him, and Jcisseth 
him, and with an impudent face saith unto him, I have peace-offer- 
ings with me; this day do I pay my voivs. Therefore came I forth 
to meet thee ; earnestly I have desired thy face, and I have found 
thee. I have decked my bed with coverings ; ivith tapestry from 
Egypt I have adorned it. I have perfumed my bed with saffron, 
and my house with cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love 

until the morning. Come, let us solace ourselves with love 

And it is added, With much discourse she seduced him; with snares 
from her lips she forced him. He goeth after her like a silly bird. 
f. ro J; I And again : Do not hearken to a wicked woman ; for 
though the lips of a harlot are like drops from a honey-comb, which 
for a while is smooth in thy throat, yet aftemvards thou wilt find her 
more bitter than gall, and sharper than any two-edged sword. And 
7 : r 26.' I again : But get aivay quickly, and tarry not. Fix not 
thine eyes upon her. For she hath cast down many ivounded, and 
they are innumerable tohom she hath slain. But if thou regard not 
this warning, it saith, thou wilt repent at the last, when thy flesh 
and thy body are consumed, and wilt say, How have I hated in- 
struction, and my heart hath avoided the reproof of the righteous ! 
I have not hearkened to the voice of my instructer, nor inclined mine 
ear to my teacher. I ivas almost in all evil. 

But we will make no more quotations ; and if we have omitted 
any, be so prudent as to select the most valuable out of the Holy 
Scriptures, and confirm yourselves with them, rejecting all things 
that are evil, that so ye may be found holy with God in eternal life. 



BOOK I.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 



VIII. 

Concerning the subjection of a wife to her husband, and that she 
must be loving and modest. 

Let the wife be obedient to her own husband, because the hus- 
band is the head of the wife. But Christ is the head of that j-\f : °J; 
husband who walketh in the way of righteousness ; and the head of 
Christ is G-od, even the Father. Therefore, wife, next after the 
Almighty, our God and Father, the Lord of the present world and 
of the world to come, the Maker of every thing that breatheth, and 
of every power, and after Ins beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, 
through whom glory be to God, do thou fear thy husband, and rev- 
erence him, pleasing him alone, rendering thyself acceptable to him 
in the several affairs of life ; so that on thine account thy husband 
may be deemed happy, according to the Wisdom of Solo- J 3 f : r io- 
mon, which speaketh thus : Who can find a virtuous ivoman ? For 
such a one is more precious than costly stones. The heart of her 
husband doth safely trust in her, so that she shall have no need of 
spoil. For she doeth good to her husband all the days of her life. 
She buyeth wool and flax, and worketh profitable things ivith her 
hands. She is like the merchants' ships ; she bringeth her food 
from far. She riseth while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her 
household, and food to her maidens. She considereth a field, and 
buyeth it. With the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. 
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengthened her arms. 
She tasteth that it is good to labor ; her lamp goeth not out the whole 
night. She stretcheth out her arms for useful ivork, and layeth her 
hands to the spindle. She openeth her hands to the needy ; yea, she 
reacheth forth her hands to the poor. Her husband taketh no care 
of the affairs of his house ; for all that are with her are clothed with 
double garments. She maketh coats for her husband, garments of 
silk and purple. Her husband is eminent in the gates, ivhen he sit- 
teth with the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen, and selleth 
it to the Phenicians, and girdles to the Canaanites. She is clothed 
with glory and beauty ; and she rejoiceth in the last days. She 
openeth her mouth ivith wisdom and discretion, and putteth her words 
in order. The ways of her household are strict ; she eateth not the 



10 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK I. 

bread of idleness. She will open her mouth with wisdom and cau- 
tion; and upon her tongue are the laws of mercy. Her children 
rise up, and praise her for her riches, and her husband joineth in 
her praises. Many daughters have obtained wealth, and done wor- 
thily, but thou surpassest and excellest them all. May lying flat- 
teries and the vain beauty of a wife be far from thee. For a reli- 
gious ivife is blessed. Let her praise the fear of the Lord; give her 
of the fruit of her lips ; and let her husband be praised in the gates. 
f™4; \ And again : A virtuous wife is a crown to her husband. 
i!?I;} And again : Many ivives have built a house. 

Ye have learned what great commendations a prudent and loving 
wife receiveth from the Lord God. If thou desirest to be one of 
the faithful, and to please the Lord, wife, do not beautify 
thyself in order to please other men, nor imitate the wearing of a 
harlot's plaited locks, or garments, or shoes, to entice those who are 
allured by such things. For although thou doest not these repre- 
hensible acts with design of sinning thyself, but only for the sake of 
ornament and beauty, yet thou wilt not so escape future punish- 
ment ; as having compelled another to be so attracted to thee as to 
desire thee, and as not having taken care both to avoid sin thyself, 
and to prevent others from stumbling. But if thou yield thyself 
up, and commit the crime, thou art both guilty of thine own sin, 
and the cause of the ruin of the other's soul also. Besides, when 
thou hast committed lewdness with one man, and beginnest to des- 
pair, thou wilt again turn away from thy duty, and follow others, 
i™l:} an( * grow past feeling; as saith the divine Word : When a 
wicked man cometh into the depth of evil, he becometh a scorner, and 
then disgrace and reproach come upon him. For such a woman 
afterwards, being wounded, ensnare th without restraint the souls of 
the foolish. 

Let us learn, therefore, how the divine Word plainly describeth 
7? C 2L } an( ^ condemneth such women, saying, I hated a woman who 
is a snare and net to the heart of men, worse than death. Her 
n^i} hands are fetters. And in another passage : As a jewel of 
gold in a swine's snout, so is beauty in a wicked woman. And 
S°I i again : As a ivorm in ivood, so doth a wicked woman de- 
| l iy. S stroy her husband. And again: It is better to div ell in the 
corner of the house-top, than with a contentious and angry woman. 
Ye, therefore, who are Christian women, imitate not such as these. 



BOOK I.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 11 

But thou who designest to be faithful to thine own husband, take 
care to please him alone. And when thou art in the streets, cover 
thy head ; for bj such a covering thou wilt avoid being viewed by 
idle persons. Paint not thy face, which is God's workmanship ; 
for there is no part of thee which wanteth ornament, inasmuch as all 
things which God hath made are very good. But the lascivious 
additional adorning of what is already good is an affront to the 
bounty of the Creator. Look downward when thou walkest abroad, 
veiling thyself as becometh women. 



IX. 

That a woman must not bathe with men. 

Avoid also that disorderly practice of bathing in the same place 
with men. For many are the nets of the evil one. And let not a 
Christian woman bathe with an hermaphrodite. For if she is to veil 
her face and conceal it with modesty from strange men, how can 
she bear to enter naked into the bath together with men ? But if 
the bath be appropriated to women, let her bathe orderly, modestly, 
and moderately. But let her not bathe without occasion, nor much, 
nor often, nor in the middle of the day, nor, if possible, every day. 
And let the tenth hour of the day be the set time for such season- 
able bathing. For it is convenient that thou who art a Christian 
woman shouldst ever constantly avoid the exciting of curiosity, 
which hath many eyes. 

X. 

Concerning a contentious and brawling woman. 

But as to a spirit of contention, be sure to curb it as to all men, 
but principally as to thy husband ; lest, if he be an unbeliever or a 
heathen, he may have an occasion of stumbling, and blaspheme 
God, and thou be partaker of a woe from God. For he saith, Woe 
to him by whom my name is blasphemed among the Gen- £*«Bfc 
tiles ; and lest, if thy husband be a Christian, he be forced, by his 
knowledge of the Scriptures, to say that which is written in the 



12 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

IPfi. \ D0 °k of Wisdom : It is better to dwell in the wilderness, 
than ivith a contentious and angry woman. 

Ye wives, therefore, demonstrate your piety, by your modesty 
and meekness, to all without the church, whether they be women or 
men, in order to their conversion and improvement in the faith. 
And since we have warned you and instructed you briefly, whom 
we esteem our sisters, daughters, and members, as being wise your- 
selves, persevere all your lives in an unblamable course of life. 
Seek to know those kinds of learning by which ye may arrive at the 
kingdom of our Lord, and please him, and so rest for ever and ever. 
Amen. 



BOOK II. 

CONCERNING BISHOPS, PRESBYTERS, AND DEACONS. 

CHAPTER I. 

That a Bishop must be well instructed, and experienced in the 

Word. 

But concerning Bishops, we have heard from our Lord that a 
Pastor, who is to be ordained a Bishop for the churches in every 
parish, must be blameless, unreprovable, free from all kinds of wick- 
edness common among men, and not under fifty years of age. For 
such a man, in good part, is past youthful irregularities, and the 
slanders of them that are without, as well as the reproaches which 
are sometimes cast upon many persons by certain false brethren, 
12*36. \ wao do not consider the word of God in the Gospel, Whoso- 
ever shall speak an idle word, shall give account thereof to the 
is? 37. 1 Lord i n tf ie day of judgment. And again : By thy words 
thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. 
Let him, therefore, be well instructed and skilful in the Word, and 
of competent age. 

But if, in a small parish, one advanced in years is not to be found, 
let some younger person, who hath a good report among his neigh- 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 13 

bors, and is esteemed by them worthy of the office of a Bishop ; 
who, from his youth, hath carried himself with meekness and regu- 
larity, like a much elder person ; after examination and a general 
good report, be ordained in peace. For Solomon at JinsomeMss. 
twelve years of age was king of Israel, and Josiah at eight \%f:'i. 
years of age reigned righteously; and in like manner \ 2 2 ^TX 
Joash governed the people at seven years of age. Wherefore, 
although the person be young, let him be meek, gentle, and quiet. 
For the Lord God saith by Isaiah, Upon ivhom will I look \ ^f^; 
but upon him who is humble and quiet, and always trembleth at my 
words ? In like manner it is in the Gospel also, Blessed are {^ffg; 
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Let him also be merciful ; 
for it is said, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain \^\\' 
mercy. Let him also be one of a good conscience, purified from all 
evil, and wickedness, and unrighteousness. For it is said again, 
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see Grod. 



Matt. 
5: 8. 



II. 

What ought to be the character of a Bishop, and of the rest of 

the Clergy. 

Let him, therefore, be sober, prudent, decorous, firm, not easily 
perturbed, not given to wine, no striker, but gentle ; not a p7.' 1: 
brawler, not covetous ; not a novice, lest, being puffed up {l?i™\ 
ivith pride, he fall into condemnation, and the snare of the {^"if; 
devil. For every one who exalteth himself shall be abased. A Bish- 
op, moreover, ought to be a man who hath been the husband ^^f; 
of one wife, who also herself hath had no other husband, ruling {4. 
well his own house. In this manner let examination be made when 
he is to receive ordination, and to be placed in his bishopric, 
whether he be grave, faithful, decorous ; whether he hath a grave 
and faithful wife, or hath formerly had such a one ; whether he hath 
educated his children piously, and hath brought them up in { g?^* 
the nurture and admonition of the Lord ; whether his domestics 
fear and reverence him, and are all obedient to him ; for if those 
who are immediately about him for worldly concerns are seditious 
and disobedient, how will others, not of his family, when they are 
under his management, become obedient to him ? 



14 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

III. 

In what things a Bishop is to be examined before he is ordained. 

Let examination also be made, -whether he be unblamable as to 
-ii i7- } t ne concerns of this life. For it is written, Search diligently 
to ascertain ivhether he who is to be ordained for the priesthood, be 
free from blemish. On which account, let him also be void of 
[™i} anger ; for Wisdom saith, Anger destroy eth even the prudent. 
Let him also be merciful, of a generous and loving temper ; for 
i&$i] our Lord saith, By this shall all men know that ye are my 
disciples, if ye love one another. Let him also be ready to give ; 
a lover of the widow and stranger, ready to serve and minister ; 
indefatigable, undaunted ; and let him know who is the most worthy 
of his assistance. 



IV. 

TJiat charitable distributions are not to be made to every widow, 
but that sometimes a woman who hath a husband is to be pre- 
ferred ; and that no distributions are to be made to any one who 
is given to gluttony, drunkenness, and idleness. 

For if there be a widow who is able to support herself, and 
another woman who is not a widow, but is needy by reason of sick- 
ness, or the bringing up of many children, or infirmity of her hands, 
let him stretch out his hand in charity rather to this latter. But 
if any one be in want by gluttony, drunkenness, or idleness, he 
doth not deserve to be assisted, nor to be a member of the church 
of God. For the Scripture, speaking of such persons, saith, 
a?9i.} ^1"' dothfvl hideth his hand in his bosom, and is not able to 
4^5."} bring it to his mouth. And again: The sluggard foldeth 
up his hands, and eateth his own flesh. For every drunkard and 
SfJi.j whoremonger shall come to poverty, and every drowsy per* 
son shall he clothed with tatters and rag*. And in another pas- 
sage, If thou give thme eyes to bowls and cups, thou shall 
afterwards walk more naked than a pestle. For, certainly, idleness 
is the mother of famine. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 15 



V. 

That a Bishop must be no accepter of persons in judgment ; that 
he must be gentle in his conversation, and temperate in his diet. 

A Bishop must be no accepter of persons. He must not fear 
any ; nor basely flatter a rich man ; nor overlook, nor domineer over, 
a poor man. For God saith to Moses, Thou shaltnot accept {{£%. 
the person of the rich, nor shalt thou pity a poor man in his {%?%; 
cause ; for the judgment is the Lord's. And again : Thou { De i6 : ' 20 17 ' 
shalt with exact justice follow that which is right. Let a Bishop be 
frugal, and contented with a little in his meat and drink, that he 
may be ever in a sober frame, and disposed to instruct and admonish 
the ignorant ; and let him not be lavish in his expenses, nor a 
pamperer of himself, nor given to pleasure, nor fond of delicacies. 
Let him be patient and gentle in his admonitions, well instructed 
himself, pondering and diligently studying the Lord's books, and 
reading them frequently, that so he may be able carefully to inter- 
pret the Scriptures, expounding the Gospel in correspondence with 
the Prophets and with the Law ; and let the expositions from the 
Law and the Prophets correspond with the Gospel. For the Lord 
Jesus saith, Search the Scriptures, for they are they which {i? h ^[ 
testify of me. And again : For Moses wrote of me. But { 46. 
above all, let him carefully distinguish between the original Law 
and the additional precepts, and show which are the laws for believers, 
and which the bonds for unbelievers ; lest any should fall under those 
bonds. Be careful, therefore, Bishop, to study the word of God, 
that thou mayest be able to explain every thing exactly, and that 
thou mayest copiously nourish thy people with much doctrine, and 
enlighten them with the light of the Law. For God saith, {i^°f 2 . 
Enlighten yourselves with the light of knowledge, while there is yet 
opportunity. 



16 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 



VI. 

That a Bishop must not be given to filthy lucre, nor be a surety, nor 

an advocate. 

Let not a Bishop be given to filthy lucre, especially before the 
Gentiles ; rather suffering than offering injuries ; not covetous, nor 
rapacious ; no purloiner, no admirer of the rich, nor hater of the 
poor ; no evil speaker, nor false witness ; not given to anger, no 
brawler ; not entangled with the affairs of this life ; not a surety for 
any one, nor an accuser in suits about money ; not ambitious, not 
double-minded, nor double-tongued ; not ready to hearken to cal- 
umny or evil-speaking ; not a dissembler, not addicted to the heathen 
festivals, not given to vain deceits, not eager after worldly things, 
nor a lover of money. For all these things are opposite to God, and 
pleasing to demons. Let the Bishop earnestly give all these pre- 
cepts in charge to the laity also, persuading them to imitate his 
uf%i. \ deportment. For the Scripture saith, Make ye the children 
of Israel pious. Let him be prudent, humble, apt to admonish with 
the instructions of the Lord, well-disposed, one who hath renounced 
all the wicked projects of this world, and all heathenish lusts. Let 
him be orderly, sharp in observing the wicked and taking heed of 
them, but yet a friend to all ; just and discerning ; and, whatsoever 
qualities are commendable among men, let the Bishop possess them 
in himself. For if the Pastor be unblamable as to any wickedness, 
he will compel his disciples, and, by his manner of life, press them to 
become worthy imitators of his own actions ; as the prophet some- 
f™\} where saith, And it will be, As is the priest, so is the people. 
For our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, the Son of God, began first 
\f\\ to do, and then to teach ; as Luke somewhere saith : Which 
t? so! } Jesus began to do and to teach. Wherefore he saith, Who- 
soever shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of 
(rod. For it becometh you, Bishops, to be guides and watchmen 
to the people, as ye yourselves have Christ for your guide and 
watchman. Be ye, therefore, good guides and watchmen to the 
people of God. For the Lord saith by Ezekiel, speaking to every 
3J: 7 ' 7- } one °f vou : & on °f man, I have given thee for a watchman 
to the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 17 

and shalt observe, and shalt declare it from me. When I say unto 
the wicked, Thou shalt surely die, if thou dost not speak to warn the 
wicked from his wickedness, that ivicked man shall die in his ini- 
quity, and his blood will I require at thy hand. But if thou warn 
the ivicked from his way, that he may turn from it, and he do not 
turn from it, he shall die in his iniquity, and thou hast delivered thy 
soul. In the same manner, if the sword of war be approaching, 
and the people set a watchman to watch, and he see the same ap- 
proach, and do not give ivarning, and the sword come and take one 
of them, he is taken away in his iniquity ; but his blood shall be re- 
quired at the watchman } s hand, because he did not bloiv the trumpet. 
But if he bloiv the trumpet, and he who heareth it take not warning, 
and the sword, come and take him aivay, his blood shall be upon him- 
self, because he heard the trumpet, and took not warning. But he 
who hath taken warning hath delivered his soul ; and the watchman, 
because he gave warning, shall surely live. 

The sword here is the judgment ; the trumpet is the holy Gos- 
pel ; the watchman is the Bishop, who is set in the church, who is 
obliged in his preaching to testify and vehemently to forewarn con- 
cerning that judgment. If ye do not declare and testify this to the 
people, the sins of those who are ignorant of it will be found upon 
you. Wherefore, warn and reprove with boldness those who are 
perverse through want of instruction ; teach the ignorant ; confirm 
those that understand ; bring back those that go astray. If we 
repeat the very same things on the same occasions, brethren, we shall 
not do amiss. For by frequent hearing it is to be hoped that some 
will be made ashamed, and at least do some good action, and avoid 
some wicked one. For saith God by the prophet, Testify {^\ 
those things to them ; perhaps they will hear thy voice. And again : 
If perhaps they will hear, if perhaps they will submit. { Ez |?*ii. : 7 ' 
Moses also saith to the people, If hearing thou wilt hear the { x ff g}; 
Lord God, and do that which is good and right in his eyes. And 
again : Hear, Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord. { ^f u 4 *- 
And our Lord is often recorded in the Gospel to have said, '{u?u. 
Me that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And wise Solomon saith, 
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and reject not the { i™^* 
laws of thy mother. And, indeed, to this day men have not heard ; 
for, while they seem to have heard, they have not heard aright ; as 
2 



18 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

appears by their having left the one and only true God, and their 
being drawn unto destruction and dangerous heresies, concerning 
which we shall speak again. 



VII. 

What ought to be the character of the initiated. 

Be it known to you, beloved, that those who are baptized into the 
death of our Lord Christ, ought no longer to commit sin. For 
as those who are dead cannot practise wickedness any longer, so 
those who are dead with Christ cannot act in a sinful manner. It is 
incredible, therefore, brethren, that any one who hath received the 
washing of life, perpetrateth the dissolute acts of transgressors. 
But he who sinneth after his baptism, unless he repent, and forsake 
his sins, will be condemned to hell. 



VIII. 

Concerning a person falsely accused; or, on the other hand, a 
person convicted. 

If, now, any one be maliciously prosecuted by the heathen, be- 
cause he will not go along with them to the same excess of riot, let 
him know that such a one is blessed of God, as our Lord saith in the 
! Ia ii:} Gospel: Blessed are ye when men shall reproach you, or 
persecute you, or say all manner of evil against you falsely for my 
sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad, for your reward is great in 
heaven. If, therefore, any one be slandered and falsely accused, 
such a one is blessed ; for the Scripture saith, A man that is a 
reprobate is not tried by God. But if any one be convicted, having 
done a wicked action, such a one not only hurteth himself, but oc- 
casioned the whole body of the church and its doctrine to be blas- 
phemed ; as if we Christians did not practise those things which we 
declare to be good and honest ; and we ourselves shall be reproached 
23?";} by the Lord, that, Tliey say, and do not. Wherefore the 
Bishop must boldly reject such as these on full conviction, unless 
they change their life. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 19 

IX. 

That a Bishop ought not to receive bribes. 

For the Bishop must not only himself give no offence, but must 
be no respecter of persons ; in kindness admonishing those that sin. 
But if he himself hath not a good conscience, and is a respecter of 
persons and a receiver of bribes, he will spare the open offender, 
permitting him to continue in the church, and disregarding the 
voice of God and the Lord, which saith, Thou shalt execute { i? : e 20. 
right judgment. Thou shalt not accept persons in judg- { i: 17. 
ment. Thou shalt not justify the wicked. Thou shalt { Ex 7 °V 3: 
not receive gifts against any one's life ; for gifts do blind the eyes 
of the wise, and pervert the ivords of the righteous. And elsewhere 
he saith, Put away from among yourselves that wicked {iffi\ 
person. And Solomon, in his Proverbs, saith, Cast out a {22^10. 
pestilent fellow from the congregation, and strife will go out along 
with him. 



X. 

That a Bishop who, by wrong judgment, spareth an offender, is 
himself guilty. 

But he who doth not consider these things, will, contrary to jus- 
tice, spare him who deserveth punishment ; as Saul spared { 1 5ff.-' 
Agag, and Eli his sons, who knew not the Lord. Such a {2: 12. 
one profaneth his own dignity, and that church of God which is in 
his parish. Such a one is esteemed unjust before God and good 
men, as affording occasion of scandal to many of the newly baptized 
and to the catechumens, as also to the youth of both sexes ; and to 
him a tvoe belongeth, and a millstone about his neck, and {isf 6**7. 
drowning, on account of his guilt. For, observing what a person 
their ruler is, through his wickedness and neglect of justice, they 
will grow skeptical, and, indulging the same disease, will be com- 
pelled to perish with him ; as was the case of the people { 3K i2 ngs ' 
joining with Jeroboam, and those who were in the conspiracy { 
with Corah. 



Num. 
16. 



20 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

But if the offender see that the Bishop and Deacons are innocent 
and unblamable, and the flock pure, he will either not venture to 
despise their authority, and to enter into the church of God at all, 
as one smitten by his own conscience ; or if he value nothing, and 
venture to enter in, either he will be convicted immediately, as 
2 Kings, J XJzza at the ark, when he touched it to support it, and as 
Joshua, i Achan when he stole the accursed thing, and as Gehazi 
4Km g s,| w hen he coveted the money of Naaman; and so will be 
immediately punished ; or else he will be admonished by the Pastor, 
and drawn to repentance. For when he looketh round the whole 
church, one by one, and can spy no blemish, either in the Bishop, 
or in the people who are under his care, he will be put to confu- 
sion, and pricked at the heart, and in a peaceable manner will go 
his way, with shame and many tears ; and the flock will remain pure. 
He will apply himself to God with tears, and will repent of his sins, 
and have hope. Nay, the whole flock, at the sight of his tears, will 
be instructed, because a sinner avoideth destruction by repentance. 



XI. 

How a Bishop ought to judge offenders. 

On this account, therefore, Bishop, endeavor to be pure in 
thine actions, and to adorn thy place and dignity, as sustaining the 
character of God among men in ruling over all men, over priests, 
kings, rulers, fathers, children, masters, and in general over all 
those who are subject to thee ; and so sit in the church, when thou 
speakest, as having authority to judge offenders. For to you, 
18*18. } Bishops, is it said, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth, shall 
be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth, shall be 
loosed in heaven. 

XII. 

An Instruction how a Bishop ought to behave himself to the penitent. 

Do thou, therefore, Bishop, judge with authority, like God ; 
yet receive the penitent. For God is a God of mercy. Rebuke 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 21 

those that sin ; admonish those that do not turn ; exhort those that 
stand to persevere in the things that are commendable ; receive the 
penitent ; because the Lord God hath promised with an oath to 
afford remission to the penitent for what things thej have done 
amiss. And he saith by Ezekiel, Speak unto them, as I {Mfn. 
live, saith the Lord, I would not the death of a sinner, but that the 
wicked turn from his evil way, and live. Tarn ye, therefore, from 
your evil ivays ; for ivhy will ye die, house of Israel ? Here the 
Word affordeth hope to sinners, that, if they repent, they shall have 
hope of salvation ; lest, despairing, they yield themselves up to their 
transgressions ; but, having hope of salvation, they may be con- 
verted, and come to God with tears on account of their sins : so 
shall they receive pardon from him, as from a merciful Father. 



XIII. 

That we ought to beware how we make trial of any sinful course. 

Yet it is very necessary that those who are innocent should 
continue so, and not make an experiment what sin is ; that they may 
not have occasion for trouble, sorrow, and those lamentations which 
are in order to forgiveness. For how dost thou know, man, when 
thou sinnest, whether thou shalt live any number of days in this 
present state, that thou mayest have time to repent ? For the time 
of thy departure out of this world is uncertain ; and if thou die in 
sin, there will remain no repentance for thee ; as God saith by 
David, In the grave, who will confess to thee? It be- { p | : a, 6 m 
cometh us, therefore, to be ready in the doing of our duty, that so we 
may await our passage into another world without sorrow. Wherefore 
also the sacred Word, speaking to thee by the wise Solomon, ex- 
horteth, Prepare thy works against thine exit, and provide { 2 4™27 
all beforehand in the field ; lest some of the things necessary to thy 
journey be wanting ; as the oil of piety was deficient in the five 
foolish virgins mentioned in the Gospel, when they, on ac- { M 2 5 tt- 
count of their having extinguished their lamps of divine knowledge, 
were shut out of the bride-chamber. Wherefore, he who valueth 
the security of his soul will take care to be out of danger, by keep- 
ing free from sin, that so he may preserve to himself the advantage 



22 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 



of his former good works. Do thou, therefore, so judge as exe- 
v e ii.} cuting judgment for God. For, as the Scripture saith, The 
judgment is the Lord's. In the first place, therefore, condemn the 
guilty person with authority ; afterwards try to bring him home 
with mercy and compassion, and readiness to receive him, promising 
him salvation if he will change his course of life, and come to re- 
pentance ; and when he is penitent, do thou with thoughtfulness 
and solemnity receive him, remembering the Lord, who hath said 
i 5 " k 7.'} that there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. 



XIV. 

Concerning those who affirm that a penitent is not to be received 
into the church; and concerning a righteous person, though he 
converse with a sinner, frc. 

But if thou refuse to receive him that is penitent, thou exposest 
him to those who lie in wait to destroy, forgetting what David saith, 
73?!l9. } Deliver not my soid, which confesseth to thee, unto destroy- 
ing beasts. Wherefore Jeremiah, when he is exhorting men to re- 
f? r 4.} pentance, saith, Shall not he that falleth arise? Or he that 
turneth away, cannot he return f Wherefore have my people gone 
back by a shameless backsliding ? and they are hardened in their 
purpose. Turn, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your back- 
slidings. Receive, therefore, him that is penitent, without any 
doubting. Be not hindered by those who unmercifully say that we 
must not be defiled with such, nor so much as speak to them. For 
these counsels are from men that are unacquainted with God and 
his providence, and from unreasonable judges and inexorable beasts. 
They are ignorant that we ought to avoid society with offenders, not 
llffo;} m discourse, but in actions. For the righteousness of the 
righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be 
i™h} upon him. And again, If a land sinneth against me by tres- 
passing grievously, and I stretch out my hand upon it, and break the 
staff of bread upon it, and send famine upon it, and destroy man and 
beast therein; though these three men, Noah, Job, and Daniel, were 
in the midst of it, they shall only save their own souls by their right- 
eousness, saith the Lord G-od. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 23 

The Scripture hath most clearly shown, that a righteous man that 
is with a wicked man doth not perish with him. For in the present 
world the righteous and the wicked are mingled together in the 
common affairs of life, but not in holy communion ; and in this the 
friends of God are guilty of no sin. For they do but imitate their 
Father who is in heaven, who maketh his sun to rise on the {f a lt 
righteous and on the unrighteous, and sendeth his rain on the evil 
and on the good ; and the righteous man undergoeth no peril on this 
account. For they who conquer, and they who are conquered, are 
in the same place of running ; but only they who have nobly con- 
tended are where the garland is bestowed. And, No one { 2 ^ [ f/ 
is crowned, unless he strive lawfully. For every one shall give 
account of himself, and God will not destroy the righteous with the 
wicked ; for with him it is a constant rule, that innocence is never 
punished. For neither did he drown Noah, nor burn up Lot, nor 
destroy Rahab for company. And if ye desire to know how this 
matter was among us, Judas was one of us, and participated 
with us in the ministry ; and Simon the magician received the 
seal of the Lord ; yet, both the one and the other proving wicked, 
the former hanged himself; and the latter, as he flew in the 
air in a manner unnatural, was dashed against the earth. More- 
over, Noah and his sons with him were in the ark ; but Ham, who 
alone was wicked, received punishment in his son. But if fathers 
are not punished for their children, nor children for their fathers, it 
is thence clear that neither will wives be punished for their hus- 
bands, nor servants for their masters, nor one relation for another, 
nor one friend for another, nor the righteous for the wicked. But 
every one will be required an account of his own doing. For 
neither was punishment inflicted on Noah for the world ; nor was 
Lot destroyed by fire for the Sodomites ; nor was Rahab slain for 
the inhabitants of Jericho ; nor Israel for the Egyptians. For 
not a person's dwelling with the wicked, but his agreeing with 
them in disposition, condemneth him. We ought not, therefore, 
to hearken to those who call for death, and hate mankind, 
and love accusations ; and, under fair pretences, bring men to 
death. For one man shall not die for another, but every {l™ 2 l'. 
one is held with the chains of his own sins. And, Behold {^fii. 
the man, and his work is before his face. Now, we ought to assist 
those who are with us, and are in danger, and fall ; and, as far as 



24 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

lieth in our power, to bring them back to sobriety by our exhorta- 
9^; } tions, and to save them from death. For they that are 
is: 14. j- whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. Since it 
is not pleasing in the sight of your Father that one of these little 
ones should perish. For we ought not to establish the will of hard- 
hearted men, but the will of the God and Father of the universe, 
which is revealed to us by Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom be glory 
for ever. Amen. 

For it is not equitable that thou, Bishop, who art the head, 
shouldst submit to the tail ; that is, to some seditious person among 
the laity unto the destruction of another, but to God alone. It is 
thy privilege to govern those under thee, but not to be governed by 
them. For neither doth a son, who is subject by the course of gen- 
eration, govern his father ; nor a servant, who is subject by law, 
govern his master ; nor doth a scholar govern his teacher ; nor a 
soldier, his king ; nor any of the laity, his Bishop. For, that there 
is no reason to suppose such as converse with the wicked, in order 
to their instruction in the Word, to be denied by or to partake of 
their sins, Ezekiel, as it were on purpose, preventing the sus- 
i8?2-} picions of ill-disposed persons, saith thus: Why do ye 
speak this proverb concerning the land of Israel ? — TJie fathers 
have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge. As 
Hive, saith the Lord Grod, ye shall not henceforth have occasion to 
use this proverb in Israel. For cdl souls are mine ; in like manner 
as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine. The 
soul that sinneth, it shall die. But the man who is righteous, and 
doeth judgment and justice (and so the prophet reckoneth up 
the rest of the virtues, and then addeth for a conclusion, such a one 
is just), he shall surely live, saith the Lord Grod. And if he beget a 
son who is a robber, a shedder of blood, and walketh not in the way 
of his righteous father (and when the prophet had added what 
folio weth, he addeth in the conclusion), he shall certainly not live; 
he hath done all this ivickedness ; he shall surely die ; his blood shall 
be upon him. Yet they will ask thee, Why f Doth not the son 
bear the iniquity of the father, or his righteousness, having exercised 
righteousness himself? And thou shalt say unto them, The soul that 
sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the 
father, and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. TJie 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 25 

righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him ; and the wicked- 
ness of the wicked shall be upon him. And a little after he saith, 
When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and com- 
mitteth iniquity, all his righteousness, by reason of all his wicked- 
ness which he hath committed, shall not be remembered. In his 
iniquity which he hath committed, and in his sin which he hath 
sinned, in them shall he die. And a little after he addeth, When 
the wicked turneth away from his wickedness which he hath com- 
mitted, and doeth judgment and justice, he hath preserved his soul ; 
he hath turned away from all his ungodliness which he hath done, he 
shall surely live, he shall not die. And afterwards, I will judge 
every one of you according to his ways, house of Israel, saith the 
Lord. 



XV. 

That the Priest must neither overlook offences, nor be rash in 
punishing them. 

Observe, ye who are our beloved sons, how merciful, jet righteous, 
the Lord our God is ; how gracious and kind to men ; and yet, most 
certainly, He ivill not acquit the guilty ; but he admitteth {i?S; 
the returning sinner, and reviveth him, leaving no room for suspi- 
cion to such as would be savage in judging, and utterly reject offen- 
ders, and not vouchsafe them so much as any exhortations which might 
bring them to repentance. In contradiction to such, God, by Isaiah, 
saith to the Bishops, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, ye { T 4o! a iV 
Priests ; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. It therefore behooveth 
you, upon hearing these words of his, to encourage those who have 
offended, and lead them to repentance, and afford them hope, and 
not vainly suppose that ye shall be partakers of their offences on 
account of love to such persons. Receive the penitent with 
alacrity, and rejoice over them, and with mercy and bowels of com- 
passion judge the sinners. For if a person was walking by the side 
of a river, and ready to stumble, and thou shouldst push him and 
thrust him into the river, instead of offering him thy hand for his 
assistance, thou wouldst be guilty of the murder of thy brother ; 
whereas thou oughtest rather to lend thy helping hand, as he was 
ready to fall, lest he perish without remedy ; that both the people 



26 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

may take warning, and the offender may not utterly perish. It is 
thy duty, Bishop, neither to overlook the sins of the people, nor 
to reject those who are penitent, that thou mayest not unskilfully 
destroy the Lord's flock, nor dishonor his new name, which is put 
on his people, and thou thyself be reproached as those ancient 
i2 J : e i6.} Pastors were, of whom God speaketh thus to Jeremiah : 
Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard ; they have 'polluted 
10? si} m y heritage ; and in another passage, My anger is waxed 
hot against the shepherds, and against the lambs shall I have indig- 
nation ; and elsewhere, Ye are the Priests that dishonor my name. 



XVI. 

Of Penance. The manner of it, and rules about it. 

When thou seest the offender, with severity command him to be 
cast out; and, as he is going out, let the deacons also treat him with 
severity, and then let them go and seek for him, and detain him out 
of the church ; and when they come in, let them entreat thee for 
him. For our Saviour himself entreated his Father for those who 
&%:} na ^ sinned ; as it is written in the Gospel, Father, forgive 
them, for they know not what they do. Then order the offender to 
come in ; and if upon examination thou find that he is penitent, and 
fit to be received at all into the church, when thou hast afflicted 
him his days of fasting, according to the degree of his offence, as 
two, three, five, or seven weeks, so set him at liberty, and speak 
such things to him as are suitable to be said in way of reproof, 
instruction, and exhortation to a sinner for his reformation ; that so 
he may continue privately in his humility, and pray to God to be 
8s? 3.} merciful to him, saying, If thou, Lord, shouldst mark 
iniquities, Lord, who should stand? For with thee there is pro- 
pitiation. Of this sort of declaration is that which is said in the 
4-7-} book of Genesis to Cain: TJiou hast sinned, be quiet ; that 
is, do not go on in sin. For that a sinner ought to be ashamed for 
his own sin, that oracle of God delivered to Moses concerning 
Miriam is a sufficient proof, when he prayed that she might be 
forgiven. For saith God to him, If her father had spit in her face, 
should she not be ashamed? Let her be shut out of the camp seven 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 27 

days, and afterwards let her come in again. We, therefore, ought 
to do so with offenders, when they profess their repentance ; namely, 
to separate them, some determinate time, according to the propor- 
tion of their offence ; and afterwards, like fathers to children, 
receive them again upon their repentance. 



XVII. 

That a Bishop must be unblamable, and a pattern for those who are 
under his charge. 

But if the Bishop himself be an offender, how will he be able any 
longer to prosecute the offence of another ? Or how will he be 
able to reprove another, while either he or his deacons, by the 
accepting of persons or the receiving of bribes, have not a clear 
conscience ? For when the ruler asketh, and the judge receiveth, 
judgment is not brought to perfection ; but when both are com- 
panions of thieves, and regardless of doing justice to the ^PfS.' 
widows, those who are under the Bishop will not be able to support 
and vindicate him. For they will say to him what is written in the 
Gospel, Wliy beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's {^4!: 
eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye ? 

Let the Bishop, therefore, with his deacons, dread to hear any 
such thing ; that is, let him give no occasion for it. For an offender, 
when he seeth any other doing as bad as himself, will be encouraged 
to do the very same things ; and then the wicked one, taking 
occasion from a single instance, worketh in others (which God for- 
bid) ; and by that means the flock will be destroyed. For the 
more offenders there are, the greater is the mischief that is done -by 
them. Sin which passeth without correction groweth worse and 
worse, and spreadeth to others ; since a little leaven leaveneth {£.%[ 
the tohole lump ; and one thief spreadeth the wickedness over a 
whole nation ; and dead flies spoil the whole pot of sweet { 58? 1. 
ointment; and when a king hearkeneth to unrighteous coun- {S°vi. 
sel, all the servants under him are wicked. So one scabby sheep, if 
not separated from those that are whole, infecteth the rest with the 
same distemper; and a man infected with the plague is to be 
avoided by all men ; and a mad dog is dangerous to every one that 



28 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

he touclieth. If therefore we neglect to separate the transgressor 
2i! a ii } fr° m the church of God, we shall make the Lord's house a 
den of thieves. For it is the Bishop's duty not to be silent in the 
case of offenders, but to convince them, to admonish them, to press 
them down, to afflict them with fastings; that so he may strike a 
llfai.} pious dread into the rest. For the Scripture saith, Make ye 
the children of Israel pious. The Bishop must be one who discour- 
ageth sin by his exhortations, and setteth a pattern of righteousness, 
and proclaimeth those good things which are prepared by God, and 
declareth that wrath which will come at the day of judgment ; lest 
he contemn and neglect the plantation of God, and, on account of 
w?it] ms carelessness, hear that which is said in Hosea : Wliy 
have ye held your peace at impiety, and have reaped the fruit 
thereof? 



XVIII. 

That a Bishop must take care that his people do not sin, considering 
that he is a watchman. 

Let the Bishop, therefore, extend his concern to all ; to those 
who have not offended, that they may continue innocent ; and to 
those who have offended, that they may repent. For to you the 
isfw.} Lord saith, Take heed that ye despise not one of these little 
ones. It is your duty also to give remission to the penitent. For 
as soon as one who hath offended saith in the sincerity of his soul, 
^"i*!'} I have sinned against the Lord, the Holy Spirit answcrcth, 
Tlie Lord also hath forgiven thy sin ; he of good cheer ; thou shall 
not die. Be sensible, therefore, Bishop, of the dignity of thy 
place ; that, as thou hast received the power of binding, so hast 
thou also that of loosing. Having therefore the power of loosing, 
come forth and behave thyself in this life as becometh thy place, 
12" 48:} knowing that thou hast a great account to give. For to 
whom, as the Scripture saith, men have entrusted much, of Mm they 
will require the more. For no man is free from sin, excepting him 
i4: b 4. } who was made man for us; Bmce it is written, No man is 
from jUthine%8, n<>. not though he !»■ hut a day old. On which 
account, the lives and conversations of the ancient holy nun and 
patriarchs arc described ; not that we may reproach them from our 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 29 

reading, but that we ourselves may repent, and have hope that we 
also shall obtain forgiveness. For their blemishes are to us both 
security and admonition, because we hence learn, when we have 
offended, that if we repent, we shall have pardon ; since it is 
written, Who can boast that he hath a clean heart, and who {^l'. 
dareth affirm that he is pure from sin f No man, therefore, is 
without sin. Do thou therefore labor to the utmost of thy power 
to be unblamable ; and be careful in respect to all, lest any one be 
made to stumble on thine account, and thereby perish. For the 
layman is solicitous only for himself, but thou for all, as having a 
greater burden and carrying a heavier load. For it is written, 
And the Lord said unto Moses, Thou and Aaron shall bear {H" 1 ?; 
the sins of the priesthood. Since, therefore, thou art to give an 
account of all, take care of all. Preserve those that are sound; 
admonish those that sin ; and when thou hast afflicted them with 
fasting, give them ease by remission ; and when with tears the 
offender beggeth readmission, receive him, and let the whole 
church pray for him ; and, when by imposition of thy hand thou 
hast admitted him, give him leave to abide afterwards in the flock. 
But the drowsy and the careless convert, strengthen, exhort, heal ; 
knowing how great a reward thou shalt have for doing so, and how 
great danger thou wilt incur if thou neglect these duties. For 
Ezekiel speaketh thus to those overseers who take no care of the 
people : Woe unto the shepherds of Israel, for they have fed {fi^f- 
themselves ; the shepherds feed not the sheep, but themselves. Ye 
eat the milk, and are clothed with the wool ; ye slay the strong ; ye 
do not feed the sheep. The weak have ye not strengthened, nor have 
ye healed that which ivas sick, nor have ye bound up that which was 
broken, nor have ye brought again that ivhich was driven away, 
nor have ye sought that ivhich ivas lost ; but with force and insult 
have ye ruled over them ; and they were scattered, because there was 
no shepherd ; and they became meat to all the beasts of the forest. 
And again : The shepherds did not search for my sheep ; and the 
shepherds fed themselves, but they fed not my sheep. And a little 
after : Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require m,y 
sheep at their hands, and cause them to cease from feeding my 
sheep ; nor shall the shepherds feed themselves any more. And I 
will deliver my sheep out of their hands, and they shall not be meat 
for them. And he also addeth, speaking to the people, Behold, I 



30 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

will judge between sheep and sheep, and betiveen rams and rams. 
/Seemed it a small thing unto you to have eaten up the good pasture, 
and to have trodden down with your feet the residue of your pasture, 
and that the sheep have eaten what was trodden down with your feet? 
And a little after he addeth, And ye shall know that I am the Lord, 
and ye, the sheep of my pasture, are my men, saith the Lord God. 



XIX. 

TJiat a shepherd who is careless of his sheep, incurreth penalty ; 
and that a sheep which doth not obey the shepherd, is punished. 

Hear, ye Bishops, and hear, ye of the laity, how God 
speaketh: I will judge between ram and ram, and between sheep 
and sheep. And he saith to the shepherds, Ye shall be judged for 
your unslcilfulness, and for destroying the sheep. That is, I will 
judge "between one Bishop and another, and between one lay person 
and another, and between one ruler and another (for these sheep 
and these rams are not irrational, but rational creatures) ; lest at 
any time a lay person should say, I am a sheep, and not a shep- 
herd, and I am not concerned for myself; let the shepherd look to 
that ; for he alone will be required to give an account for me. For 
as that sheep which will not follow its good shepherd is exposed to 
the wolves unto its destruction ; so that which followeth a bad shep- 
herd is also exposed to unavoidable death, since his shepherd will 
devour him. Wherefore, care must be had to avoid destructive 
shepherds. 



XX. 

How the governed are to obey the Bishops who are set over them. 

As to a good shepherd, let the lay person honor him, love him, 
revere him as his Lord, as his Master, as a high-priest of God, as 
a teacher of piety. For lie that hearcth him heaivtli Christ, and he 
that rejecteth him rejecteth Christ. And lie who doth not receive 
Christ, doth not receive his God and Father ; for, saith he, He that 
K>:\'i;'. ! heareth you heareth me, and he that rejecteth you rejecteth 
me, and hr thai rejecteth n th him thai Bent m 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 31 

In like manner, let the Bishop love the laity as his children, fos- 
tering and cherishing them with affectionate diligence ; as eggs in 
order to the hatching of young ones ; or as young ones, taking them 
in his arms, and rearing them into birds ; admonishing all men, 
reproving all who stand in need of reproof; reproving, but not 
striking ; pressing them down to make them ashamed, but not over- 
throwing them ; warning them in order to their conversion, chiding 
them in order to their reformation and better course of life ; watch- 
ing the strong, that is, keeping him firm in the faith who is already 
strong ; feeding the people peaceably ; strengthening the weak, that 
is, confirming with exhortation that which is tempted ; healing that 
which is sick, that is, curing by instruction that which is weak in 
the faith through doubtfulness of mind ; binding up that which is 
broken, that is, binding up by comfortable admonitions that which 
is gone astray, or wounded, bruised, or broken by sins, and put out 
of the way ; easing it of its offences, and giving hope : one that is 
thus invigorated, restore to the church ; bring back to the flock. 
Bring again that ivhich is driven away, that is, do not permit that 
which is in its sins, and is cast out by way of punishment, to con- 
tinue excluded ; but receiving it, and bringing it back, restore it to 
the flock, that is, to the people of the undefiled church. Seek for 
that which is lost, that is, do not suffer that which despondeth of its 
salvation, by reason of the multitude of its offences, utterly to perish. 
Search thou for that which is grown sleepy, drowsy, and sluggish, 
and that which is unmindful of its own life, through the depth of its 
sleep, and which is at a great distance from its own flock, so as to 
be in danger of falling among the wolves, and being devoured by 
them. Bring it back by admonition ; exhort it to be watchful ; and 
insinuate hope, not permitting it to say that which was said by 
some, Our impieties are upon us, and we pine away in {&£%. 
them ; how shall we then live ? 

As far as possible, therefore, let the Bishop make the offence his 
own, and say to the sinner, Do thou but return, and I will under- 
take to suffer death for thee, as our Lord suffered death for me and 
for all men. For the good shepherd layeth down his life {io° h ii'. 
for the sheep ; bat he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd, ivhose 
own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, that is, the devil, and 
leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them. We must 
know, therefore, that God is very merciful to those who offend, and 



32 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

hath promised repentance with an oath. But he who hath offended, 
and is unacquainted with this promise of God concerning repentance, 
and doth not understand his long-suffering and forbearance ; and 
besides, is ignorant of the Holy Scriptures, which proclaim repen- 
tance, and hath never learned them, perisheth through his folly. 
But do thou, like a compassionate shepherd, and a diligent feeder 
of the flock, search out, and keep an account of the flock. Seek 
that which is wanting, as the Lord God our gracious Father hath 
sent his own Son, the good Shepherd and Saviour, our Master Jesus, 
isfio.} an d na th commanded him to leave the ninety and nine 
L5? k 4-} upon the mountains, and to go in search after that ivhich 
ivas lost ; and, when he had found it, to take it upon his shoulders, 
and to carry it into the flock, rejoicing that he had found that which 
was lost. 

In like manner be obedient, Bishop, and seek that which was 
lost ; guide that which wandereth out of the right way ; bring back 
that which is gone astray. For thou hast authority to bring them 
4: U i9*} back, and to deliver those that are broken-hearted, by remis- 
sion. By thee the Saviour saith to him who is discouraged under 
■gf"' } the sense of his sins, Thy sins are forgiven thee ; thy faith 
Mlt} hath saved thee ; go in peace. But this peace and haven of 
tranquillity is the church of Christ, into which do thou, when thou 
hast loosed them from their sins, restore them, being now sound and 
unblamable, of good hope, diligent, laborious in good works. As 
a skilful and compassionate physician, heal all such as wander in the 
5f a i|; } ways of sin ; for they that are whole have no need of a 
19? 10!} physician, but they that are sick. For the Son of Man 
came to save and to seek that which was lost. Since thou art, 
therefore, a physician of the Lord's church, provide remedies suit- 
able to every patient's case. Cure them, heal them by all means 
fiff.'} possible; restore them sound to the church. Feed the 
20*25.} flock, not with insolence and contempt, as lording it over 
4o ai ii.'} them, but as a gentle shepherd, gathering the lambs into 
thy bosom, and gently leading those which are with young. 



EOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 33 



XXI. 

That it is a dangerous thing to judge without hearing both sides , or 
to determine punishment against a person before he is convicted. 

Be gentle, gracious, mild; without guile, without falsehood; 
not rigid, not insolent, not severe, not arrogant, not unmerciful, not 
puffed up, not a man-pleaser, not timorous, not double-minded ; not 
one that insulteth over the people that are under thee ; not one that 
concealeth the divine laws, and the promises to repentance ; not 
hasty in thrusting out and expelling, but cautious ; not delighting in 
severity, nor rash. Do not admit less evidence to convict any one 
than that of three witnesses, and those of known and established 
reputation. Inquire whether they do not accuse out of ill-will or 
envy ; for there are many that delight in mischief, that are forward 
in discourse, slanderous, haters of the brethren, making it their 
business to scatter the sheep of Christ ; whose affirmation if thou 
admittest without a careful scanning, thou wilt disperse thy flock, 
and betray it to be devoured by wolves, that is, by demons and 
wicked men, or rather not men, but wild beasts in the shape of men, 
by the heathen, by the Jews, and by the impious heretics. For 
those destroying wolves soon address themselves to any one that is 
cast out of the church, and esteem him as a lamb delivered for them 
to devour, reckoning his destruction their own gain. For {f^"' 
he that is their father, the devil, is a murderer. 

He also who is separated unjustly by thy want of care in judg- 
ing, will be overwhelmed with sorrow, and be disconsolate, and so 
will either wander among the heathen, or be entangled in heresies, 
and so be altogether estranged from the church, and from hope in 
God, and will be entangled in wickedness, whereby thou wilt be 
guilty of his perdition. For it is not fair to be too hasty in casting 
out an offender, but slow in receiving him when he returneth ; to be 
forward in cutting off, but unmerciful when he is sorrowful, and 
ought to be healed. For of such as these the divine Scripture 
saith, Their feet run to mischief ; they 'are hasty to shed {\™q; 
blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways ; and the { l iffi: 
way of peace they have not known. The fear of God is {£°E: 
not before their eyes. Now, the way of peace is our Saviour Jesus 
3 



84 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

liflk.} Christ, who hath taught us, saying, Forgive, and ye shall 
6?!?.' } oe forgiven ; give, and it shall be given to you. That is, 
give remission of sins, and your offences shall be forgiven you. As 
6? a i2: } a l so ne instructed us by his prayer to say unto God, For- 
give us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

If, therefore, ye do not forgive offenders, how can ye expect the 
remission of your own sins ? Do ye not rather bind yourselves more 
firmly, by pretending in your prayers to forgive, when ye really do 
not forgive ? Will ye not be confronted with your own words, when 
ye say ye forgive, and do not forgive ? For know ye, that 
he who casteth out one that hath not behaved himself wick- 
edly, or who will not receive him that returneth, is a murderer 
of his brother, and sheddeth his blood, as Cain did that of 
£ e j) } his brother Abel; and his blood crieth to God, and will be 
required. For a righteous man unjustly slain by any one will be in 
rest with God for ever. The same is the case of him who, without 
cause, is separated by his Bishop. He who hath cast him out as a 
pestilent fellow, when he was innocent, is more furious than a mur- 
derer. Such a one hath no regard to the mercy of God, nor is 
mindful of his goodness to those that are penitent, not keeping in 
his eye the examples of those who, having been once great offen- 
ders, received forgiveness upon their repentance. On which 
account, he who casteth off an innocent person is more cruel than 
he that murdereth the body. In like manner, he who doth not 
receive the penitent scattereth the flock of Christ, being really 
against him. For as God is just in judging sinners, so is he merci- 
ful in receiving them when they return ; for David, the man after 
mS?l } Clod's own heart, sang to him both of mercy and of judg- 
ment. 



XXII. 

That David, the Ninevites, Hezekiah, and his son Manasseh, are 
eminent examples of repentance. 

It is thy duty, Bishop, to have before thine eyes the examples 
of those that have gone before, and to apply them skilfully to the 
cases of those who need words of severity or of consolation. 
Besides, it is reasonable that, in thine administration of justice, thou 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 35 

shouldst follow the will of God ; and as God dealeth with sinners, 
and with those who return, that thou shouldst act accordingly in thy 
judging. Now did not God, by Nathan, reproach David for his 
offence ? And yet, as soon as he said that he repented, he deliv- 
ered him from death, saying, Be of good cheer, thou shalt { 2 i? : ,r i| s ' 
not die. So also when God had caused Jonah to be swal- { J f. ft fJ' 
lowed up by the sea and the whale, upon his refusing to { 12. 
preach to the Ninevites ; when yet he prayed to him out of the belly 
of the whale, he retrieved his life from corruption. And when 
Hezekiah had been puffed up for a while, yet, as soon as { 4K 2 o. ss ' 
he prayed with lamentation, he remitted his offence. Moreover, 
ye Bishops, hearken to anrinstance useful on this occasion. For it 
is written thus in the fourth book of Kings and the second book of 
Chronicles : ' And Hezekiah died, and Manasseh his son {20S8B. 
reigned. He was twelve years old when he began {alSSSi. 
to reign ; and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem, 
and his mother's name was Hephzibah. And he did evil in 
the sight of the Lord ; and he did not abstain from tha abomina- 
tions of the heathen, whom the Lord destroyed from the face of the 
children of Israel. And Manasseh returned, and built the high 
places which Hezekiah his father had overthrown ; and he reared 
pillars for Baal, and set up an altar for Baal, and made groves, as 
did Ahab, king of Israel. And he made altars in the house of the 
Lord, of which the Lord spake to David and to Solomon his son, 
saying, Therein will I put my name. And Manasseh set up altars, 
and by them served Baal, and said, My name shall continue for ever. 
And he built altars to the host of heaven, in the two courts of the 
house of the Lord ; and he made his children pass through the fire 
in the valley of the son of Hinnom ; and he consulted enchanters, 
and dealt with wizards and familiar spirits, and with conjurers, and 
observers of times, and with Teraphim ; and he sinned exceedingly in 
the eyes of the Lord, to provoke him to anger; and he set a molten 
and a graven image, the image of his grove, which he made in the 
house of the Lord, wherein the Lord had chosen to put his name in 
Jerusalem the holy city for ever, and had said, I will no more re- 
move my foot from the land of Israel, which I gave to their fathers ; 
only if they will observe to do according to all that I have commanded 
them, and according to all the precepts that my servant Moses com- 
manded them. And they hearkened not. And Manasseh seduced 



36 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

them to do more evil before the Lord than did the nations whom the 
Lord cast out from the face of the children of Israel. And the Lord 
spake concerning Manasseh, and concerning his people, by the hand 
of his servants the prophets, saying, Because Manasseh, king of 
Judah, hath done all these wicked abominations in a higher degree 
than the Amorite did who was before him, and hath made Judah to sin 
with his idols ; thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold, I bring 
evils upon Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of them, 
both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the 
line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab ; and I will 
blot out Jerusalem, as a tablet is blotted out by wiping it. And 
I will turn it upside clown, and I will give up the remnant of mine 
inheritance, and will deliver them into the hands of their enemies ; 
and they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their enemies ; 
because of all the evils which they have done in mine eyes, and 
have provoked me to anger from the day that I brought their fathers 
out of the land of Egypt, even until this day. Moreover, Manasseh 
shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one 
end to another ; besides his sins wherewith he made Judah to sin in 
doing evil in the sight of the Lord. 

' And the Lord brought upon him the captains of the host of the 
king of Assyria ; and they caught Manasseh in bonds, and they 
bound him in fetters of brass, and brought him to Babylon ; and 
he was bound and shackled with iron all over in the house of the 
prison ; and bread made of bran was given unto him scantily, and 
by weight, and water mixed with vinegar, but a little and by 
measure, so much as would keep him alive, and he was in straits 
and sore affliction. 

' And when he was violently afflicted, he besought the face of the 
Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the face of 
the Lord God of his fathers. And he prayed unto the Lord, saying, 
Lord, Almighty God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
and of their righteous seed ; who hast made heaven and earth, with 
all the ornament thereof; who hast bound the sea by the word of 
thy commandment ; who hast shut up the deep, and sealed it by 
thy terrible and glorious name ; whom all things fear, and they trem- 
ble before thy power. For the majesty of thy glory cannot be borne ; 
and thine angry threatening towards sinners is insupportable. But 
thy merciful promise is unmeasurablc and unsearchable ; for thou 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 3T 

art the most high Lord, of great compassion, long-suffering, very mer- 
ciful, and repentest thee at the calamities of men. Thou, { J ™f/ 
Lord, according to thy great goodness, hast promised forgiveness to 
them that have sinned against thee ; and of thine infinite mercy hast 
appointed repentance unto sinners, that they may be saved. Thou, 
therefore, Lord, that art the God of the just, hast not appointed re- 
pentance to the just, as to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, who have 
not sinned against thee ; but thou hast appointed repentance unto me 
that am a sinner ; for I have sinned above the number of the sands of 
the sea. My transgressions, Lord, are multiplied, my transgres- 
sions are multiplied ; and I am not worthy to behold and see the 
height of heaven, for the*'multitude of mine iniquities. I am bowed 
down with many iron bands, so that I cannot lift up my head, nor 
have any release ; for I have provoked thy wrath, and done evil be- 
fore thee. I did not thy will, nor kept thy commandments. I have 
set up abominations, and have multiplied offences. Now, therefore, 
I bow the knee of my heart, imploring thy grace. I have sinned, 

Lord, I have sinned, and I acknowledge mine iniquities. Wherefore, 

1 humbly beseech thee, forgive me, Lord, forgive me, and destroy 
me not with mine iniquities. Be not angry with me for ever, by reserv- 
ing evil for me ; nor condemn me into the lower part of the earth. For 
thou art the God, even the God of them that repent, and in me thou 
wilt show ail thy goodness ; for thou wilt save me that am unworthy, 
according to thy great mercy. Therefore I will praise thee for ever 
all the days of my life ; for all the powers of the heavens do praise 
thee, and thine is the glory for ever and ever. Amen. 

' And the Lord heard his voice, and had compassion upon him ; and 
there appeared a flame of fire about him, and all the iron shackles 
and chains fell off; and the Lord healed Manasseh from his afflic- 
tion, and brought him back to Jerusalem unto his kingdom ; and 
Manasseh knew that the Lord is God alone. And he worshipped 
the Lord God alone, with all his heart, and with all his soul, all the 
days of his life ; and he was esteemed righteous ; and he took away 
the strange gods, and the graven image out of the house of the 
Lord, and all the altars which he had built in the house of the Lord, 
and all the altars in Jerusalem ; and he cast them out of the 
city. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed thereon 
peace-offerings and thank-offerings. And he spake to Judah to serve 
the Lord God of Israel. And he slept in peace with his fathers ; 



/ 



38 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

and Anion his son reigned in his stead. And he did evil in the sight 
of the Lord, according to all things that Manasseh his father had 
done in the former part of his reign ; and he provoked the Lord his 
God to anger.' 

Ye have heard, our beloved children, how the Lord God for a 
while punished him that was addicted to idols, and had slain many 
innocent persons ; and yet that he received him when he repented, 
and forgave him his offences, and restored him to his kingdom. For 
he not only forgiveth the penitent, but rei'nstateth them in their for- 
mer dignity. 



XXIII. 

Amon may be an example to such as sin with a high hand. 

There is no sin more grievous than idolatry ; for it is an impiety 
against God ; and yet even this sin hath been forgiven, upon sin- 
cere repentance. But if any one sin in direct opposition, and on 
purpose to try whether God will punish the wicked or not, such a 
one shall have no remission, although he say with himself, All is 
well, and I will walk according to the conversation of mine evil heart. 
Such a one was Amon, the son of Manasseh. For the Scripture saith, 
And Amon reasoned an evil reasoning of transgression, and said, 
My father from his childhood was a great transgressor, and re- 
pented in his old age ; and now I will walk as my soul listeth ; and 
afterwards I will return unto the Lord. And he did evil in the sight 
of the Lord above all that were before him. And the Lord God soon 
destroyed him utterly from his good land. And his servants con- 
spired against him, and slew him in his own house ; and he reigned 
tivo years only. 

XXIV. 

That Christ Jesus our Lord came to save sinners by repentance. 

Take heed, therefore, ye of the laity, lest any one of you fix the 
reasoning of Amon in his heart, and be suddenly cut off, and perish. 
In the same manner, let the Bishop take all the care he can that 
those who arc yet innocent may not fall into sin. And let him heal 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 39 

and receive those who turn from their sins. But if he is pitiless, and 
will not receive the repenting sinner, he will sin against the Lord 
his God, pretending to be more just than God's justice, and not 
receiving him whom He hath received through Christ ; for whose sake 
he sent his Son upon earth to men, as a man ; for whose sake God was 
pleased that he who was the Maker of man and woman should be 
born of a woman ; for whose sake he did not spare him from the 
cross, from death and burial ; but permitted him to die who by na- 
ture could not suffer ; his beloved Son, God the Word ; {^fX 1 ' 
the angel of his great council ; that he might deliver those from 
death who were obnoxious to death. Him do those provoke to 
anger who do not receive* the penitent. For he was not ashamed of 
me, Matthew, who was formerly a publican ; and admitted Peter, 
who had through fear denied him three times, but had appeased him 
by repentance, and had wept bitterly ; nay, he made him a shep- 
herd to his own lambs. Moreover, he ordained Paul, our fellow 
apostle, to be of a persecutor an apostle, and declared him a chosen 
vessel, even when he had heaped many mischiefs upon us before, 
and had blasphemed his sacred name. He saith also to another, a 
woman that was a sinner, Tliy sins, which are many, are for- {\?\$\ 
given; for thou lovedst much. And when the elders, setting before 
him another woman who had sinned, had left the sentence to him, 
and were gone out, our Lord, the searcher of hearts, inquiring 
of her whether the elders had condemned her, and being answered 
No, he said unto her, Geo thy ivay, therefore, for neither do I {ff n! 
condemn thee. 

ye Bishops, this Jesus, our Saviour, our King, and our God, 
ought to be set before you as a pattern ; and him ye ought to imi- 
tate, in being meek, quiet, compassionate, merciful, peaceable, free 
from anger, apt to teach, and diligent to convert, willing to receive 
and to comfort ; no strikers, not soon angry, not injurious, not arro- 
gant, not supercilious, not wine-bibbers, not drunkards, not vainly 
expensive, not lovers of delicacies, not extravagant ; using the gifts 
of God, not as another's, but as one's own ; as good stewards appoint- 
ed over them, as those who will be required by God to give an 
account of the same. Let the Bishop esteem such food and raiment 
sufficient as suit necessity and decency. Let him not make use of 
the Lord's goods as another's, but moderately ; for the la- {j£ k f; 
borer is worthy of his reward. Let him not be luxurious in diet, nor 



40 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

fond of idle furniture ; but let him desire those things only which 
belong to his condition. 



XXV. 

Of first-fruits and tithes ; and after what manner the Bishop is him- 
self to partake of them, or to distribute them to others. 

Let him use those tenths and first-fruits which are given accord- 
ing to the command of God, as a man of God. Let him dispense in 
a right manner the freewill offerings which are brought in on account 
of the poor, the orphans, the widows, the afflicted, and strangers in 
distress, as having that God for the examiner of his accounts who 
hath committed the disposition to him. Moreover, distribute with 
righteousness to all those who are in want ; and use, yourselves, the 
things which belong to the Lord, but do not abuse them ; eating of 
them, but not eating them all up by yourselves. Communicate with 
those that are in want, and thereby show yourselves unblamable 
before God. For if ye shall consume them by yourselves, ye will 
be reproached by God, who saith, as to insatiable and selfish devour- 
£ e a'.} ers ? Ye eat up the milk, and clothe yourselves with the wool; 
^'s! 1 '} and in another passage, Must ye alone live upon the earth? 
lofis.} O n which account ye are commanded in the law, Thou 
shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 

Now we say these things, not as if ye might not partake of the 
jjfj } fruits of your labors ; for it is written, Thou shalt not muz- 
zle the mouth of the ox ivhich treadeth out the corn ; but that ye 
should do it with moderation and righteousness. As therefore the 
ox that laboreth in the threshing-floor without a muzzle, eateth in- 
deed, but doth not eat all up ; so do ye who labor in the threshing- 
floor, that is, in the church of God, cat of the church ; which was 
also the case of the Levites, who served in the tabernacle of the 
testimony, which was in all things a type of the church. Moreover, 
also, its very name implied that that tabernacle was fore-appointed 
for a testimony of the church. Here, therefore, the Levites, who 
attended upon the tabernacle, partook of those things which were 
offered to God by all the people, namely, gifts, offerings, and first- 
fruits, and tithes, and sacrifices, and oblations, without disturbance, 
they and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters. Since 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 41 

their employment was the ministration of the tabernacle, therefore 
they had not any lot or inheritance in the land among the children 
of Israel, because the oblations of the people were the lot of Levi, 
and the inheritance of their tribe. 

Ye, therefore, at the present day, Bishops, are to your people 
priests and Levites, ministering to the holy tabernacle, the holy cath- 
olic church ; who stand at the altar of the Lord your God, and offer 
to him reasonable and unbloody sacrifices, through Jesus, the great 
High Priest. Ye are to the laity prophets, rulers, governors, and 
kings ; the mediators between God and his faithful people, who 
receive and declare his word, well acquainted with the Scriptures. 
Ye are the voice of God, and witnesses of his will, who bear the sins 
of all, and intercede for all ; whom, as ye have heard, the Word 
severely threateneth, if ye hide from men the key of knowl- {iif|j? 
edge ; who are liable to perdition, if ye do not declare his will to the 
people that are under you ; who shall have a sure reward from God, 
and unspeakable honor and glory, if ye duly minister to the holy 
tabernacle. For as yours is the burden, so ye receive, as your fruit, 
the supply of food and other necessaries. For ye imitate Christ the 
Lord ; and, as he bare the sins of us all upon the tree, at his cruci- 
fixion, the innocent for those who deserved punishment ; so also ye 
ought to make the sins of the people your own. For concerning our 
Saviour, it is said in Isaiah, He beareth our sins, and is {^y?^' 
afflicted for us. And again, He bare the sins of many, and {53: 12. 
was delivered for their offences. 

As therefore ye are patterns for others, so ye have Christ for your 
pattern ; as therefore he himself is the pattern for you all, so are ye 
for the laity under you. Think not that the office of a Bishop is an 
easy or light burden. As therefore ye bear the weight, so ye have 
a right to partake of the fruits before others, and to impart to those 
that are in want, as having to give an account to Him who without 
bias will examine your accounts. 

For they who attend upon the church ought to be maintained by 
the church, as being priests, Levites, presidents, and ministers of 
God. As it is written in the book of Numbers concerning the 
priests : And the Lord said unto Aaron, Thou and thy sons, {g™J- 
and the house of thy family, shall bear the iniquities of the { s- 
sanctuary and of your priesthood. Behold, I have given unto you 
the charge of the first-fruits. From all that are sanctified to me by 



42 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

the children of them for a reward to thee, and 

U thy )y an ordinance for ever. This shall be 

('■it of the holy things, out of the oblations, and out of tin- gifts, and 
out of all the sacrifices, and out of every trespass-offering and *in- 
;/. and all that they render unto me out of all their holy things; 
they shall belong to thee, and to thy sons. In the sanctuary shall 
they eat them. And a little after : All the first-fruits of the oil, and 
of the wine, and of the wheat, and edl that they shall give unto the 
Lord, to thee have I given them; and all that is first ripe, to thee have 
I given it, and every devoted thing. Every first-born of man and 
of beast, clean and unclean, and the breast and the right shoulder 
of a sacrifice, appertain to the priests, and to the rest who continue 
with the tn, namely, the Levites. 

Hear this, ye of the laity also, the elect church of God. For the 
is? 5?6* } people were formerly called, the people of God, and a holy 
i!? e 23. } nation. Ye, therefore, are the holy and sacred church of 
1 2 > : e y er '} God, enrolled in heaven, a royed priesthood, a holy nation, 
a peculiar people, a bride adorned for the Lord God, a great church, 
a faithful church. Hear attentively now what was said formerly : 
Oblations and tithes belong to Christ, our High Priest, and to those 
who minister to him. Tithes of salvation are the first letter of the 
name of Jesus. Hear, thou holy catholic church, who hast escap- 
ed the ten plagues, and hast received the ten commandments, and 
hast learned the law, and hast kept the faith, and hast believed in 
Jesus, and art named after his name, and art established, and shinest 
in the consummation of his glory. Those which were then the 
sacrifices are now prayers, and intercessions, and thanksgivings. 
Those which were then first-fruits, and tithes, and offerings, and 
gifts, are now oblations, which are presented by holy Bisho] a I i the 
Lord God, through Jesus Christ, who hath died for them. 

are your high priests, as the preshyters are your priests : and 

your present deacons arc instead of the Levites, as are also your 

our singers, your porters, your deaconesses, your widows, 

your virgins, and your orphans. But he who is above all those is 

the high pri( 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 43 



XXVI. 

According to ivhat pattern and dignity every order of the clergy is 
appointed by God. 

The Bishop is the minister of the Word, the keeper of knowl- 
edge, the mediator between God and you in the several parts of jour 
divine worship. He is the teacher of piety ; and, next after God, 
he is your father, who hath begotten you again to the adoption of 
sons by water and the Spirit. He is your ruler and governor ; he 
is your king and potentate^ he is, next after God, your earthly god, 
who hath a right to be honored by you. For concerning him and 
such as he, it is that God pronounceth, / have said, Ye are { T 8 lf™ 
gods, and ye are all children of the Most High ; and, Ye { §? f s \ 
shall not speak evil of the gods. 

Let the Bishop, therefore, preside over you as one honored with the 
authority of God, which he is to exercise over the clergy, and by 
which he is to govern all the people. But let the deacon minister 
to him as Christ doth to his Father, and let him serve him unblam- 
ably in all things, as Christ doeth nothing of himself, but doeth always 
those things that please his Father. Let also the deaconess be 
honored by you in the place of the Holy Ghost, and not do nor say 
any thing without the deacon ; as neither doth the Comforter say 
nor do any thing of himself, but giveth glory to Christ by waiting 
for his pleasure. And as we cannot believe on Christ without the 
teaching of the Spirit, so let not any woman address herself to the 
deacon or to the Bishop without the deaconess. Let the presbyters 
be esteemed by you to represent us the apostles, and let them be the 
teachers of divine knowledge ; since our Lord, when he sent us, 
said, Go ye, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing {28^19%. 
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have com- 
manded you. Let the widows and orphans be esteemed as represent- 
ing the altar of burnt-offering ; and let the virgins be honored as 
representing the altar of incense, and the incense itself. 



44 CONSTITUTIONS OF [COOK II. 



XXVII. 

That it is a horrible thing for a man to thrust himself into any 
sacerdotal office, as did Corah and his company. Said, and 
Uzziah. 

As therefore it was not lawful for one of another tribe, that was 
not a Levite, to offer any thing, or to approach the altar without the 
priest ; so also do ye nothing without the Bishop. But if any one 
doeth any thing without the Bishop, he doeth it to no purpose. For 
it will not be esteemed as of any avail to him. For as Saul, when 
l iI?iE*} ne had offered without Samuel, was told, It will not avail 
for thee ; so every person among the laity, doing any thing without 
the priest, laboreth in vain. And as Uzziah the king, who was not 
a priest, and yet would exercise the functions of the priests, was 
smitten with leprosy for his transgression ; so every lay-person shall 
be punished who despiseth God, and, raging against his priests, 
£ e ]j; } snatcheth the honor to himself; not imitating Christ, who 
glorified not himself to be made a High Priest, but waited till he 
SSl } heard from his Father, The Lord sware, and ivill not repent, 
Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedek. If, there- 
fore, Christ did not glorify himself without God the Father, how 
dareth any man thrust himself into the priesthood who hath not re- 
ceived that dignity from his superior, and do those things which it is 
lawful only for the priests to do ? Were not the followers of Corah, 
N iT' } even they who were of the tribe of Levi, consumed with 
fire, because they rose up against Moses and Aaron, and meddled 
with such things as did not belong to them ? And Dathan and 
Abiram went down quick into hell ; and the rod that budded put a 
stop to the madness of the multitude, and showed who was the high 
priest ordained by God. 

Ye ought, therefore, brethren, to bring your sacrifices and your ob- 
lations to the Bishop, as to your high priest, either by yourselves or by 
the deacons ; and bring to him not those only, but also your first-fruits, 
and your tithes, and your free-will offerings. For he knoweth who 
they are that are in affliction, and giveth to every one as is conve- 
nient, so that one may not receive alms twice or oftener the same 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 45 

day or the same week, while another hath nothing at all. For it is 

reasonable rather to supply the wants of those who are really in 
distress, than of those who only appear to be so. 



XXVIII. 

Of an entertainment ; and how each distinct order of the clergy is 
to be treated by those who invite them to it. 

If any determine to invite elder women to an entertainment of 
love or a feast, as our Saviour hath denominated it, let them most 
frequently send to her whom the deacons know to be in distress. 
But let what is the pastor's due, I mean the first-fruits, be set 
apart in the feast for him (even though he be not at the entertain- 
ment), as being your priest, and in honor of that God who hath 
entrusted him with the priesthood. But whatever be the portion 
given to each of the elder women, let double be given to the deacons, 
in honor of Christ. Let also a double portion be set apart for the 
presbyters, as for those who labor about the Word and doctrine, 
on account of the apostles of our Lord, whose place they sustain as 
the counsellors of the Bishop, and the crown of the church. For 
they are the sanhedrim and senate of the church. If there be a 
reader there, let him receive a single portion, in honor of the 
prophets ; and let the singer and the porter have as much. 

Let the laity, therefore, pay to each distinct order the proper 
honor, in gifts and in respectful deportment. But let them not 
on all occasions trouble their ruler ; but let them signify their de- 
sires by those who minister to him, that is, by the deacons, with 
whom they may be more free. For neither may we address our- 
selves to Almighty God, but only by Christ. In the same manner, 
therefore, let the laity make known all their desires to the Bishop 
by the deacon ; and accordingly let them act as he shall direct 
them. For there was no holy thing offered or done in the temple 
formerly without the priest : for the priest's lips shall keep { ^il 
knowledge, and they shall seek the Law at his mouth; as the 
prophet somewhere saith ; for he is the messenger of the Lord 
Almighty. For if the worshippers of demons, in their hateful, 
abominable, and impure performances till this very day, imitate the 



46 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

sacred rules (it is a wide comparison indeed, and there is a vast 
distance between their abominations and God's sacred worship), 
they neither offer nor do any thing in their delusive acts of 
worship, without their pretended priest ; but they esteem him as 
the very mouth of their idols of stone, waiting to see what com- 
mands he will lay upon them. And whatsoever he commandeth 
them, that they do ; and without him they do nothing ; and they 
honor their pretended priest himself, and esteem his name as venera- 
ble in honor of lifeless statues, and in order to the worship of wicked 
spirits. If these heathens, therefore, who give glory to lying vani- 
ties, and place their hope on nothing that is firm, endeavor to 
imitate the sacred rules, how much more reasonable is it that ye, 
who have a most certain faith and undoubted hope, and who expect 
glorious, and eternal, and never-failing promises, should honor the 
Lord God in those who are set over you, and esteem the Bishops to 
be the mouth of God ! 



XXIX. 

What is the dignity of a Bishop and of a Beacon. 

For if Aaron, because he declared to Pharaoh the words of God 
from Moses, is called a prophet, and Moses himself is called a god 
to Pharaoh, on account of his being at once a king and a high 
priest, as God saith to him, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh, 
and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet ; why do not ye also 
esteem the mediators of the word to be prophets, and revere them 
as gods ? 

- XXX. 

After what manner the Laity are to be obedient to the Beacon. 

For now the Deacon is to you Aaron; and the Bishop, Moses. 
If, therefore, Moses was called a god by the Lord, let the Bishop be 
honored among you as a god, and the Deacon as his prophet. 
For as Christ doeth nothing without his Father, so neither doeth the 
Deacon any thing without his Bishop. And as the Son without 
his Father is nothing, so is the Deacon nothing without his Bishop. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 47 

And as the Son is subject to his Father, so is every Deacon subject 
to his Bishop ; and as the Son is the messenger and prophet of the 
Father, so is the Deacon the messenger and prophet of his Bishop. 
Wherefore, let all things that he is to do with any one be made 
known to the Bishop, and by him be perfected. 



XXXI. 

That the Deacon must not do any thing without the Bishop. 

Let him not do any thing at all without his Bishop, nor give any 
thing without his consent. For if he give to any one as to a person 
in distress, without the Bishop's knowledge, he will give it so that it 
must tend to the reproach of the Bishop, and will accuse him as 
careless of the distressed. But he that casteth reproach on his 
Bishop, either by word or by deed, opposeth God, not hearkening 
to what he saith, Thou shalt not speak evil of the gods. {f^k. 
For he did not make that law concerning deities of wood and of 
stone, which are abominable, because they are falsely called gods ; 
but concerning the priests and the judges, to whom God also said, 
Ye are gods and children of the Most Sigh. { F 8 \ff 



XXXII. 

That the Deacon must not make any distributions without the con- 
sent of the Bishop , because that will turn to the reproach of the 
Bishop. 

If, therefore, Deacon, thou knowest any one to be in distress, 
put the Bishop in mind of him, and so give to him ; but do nothing 
in a clandestine way, tending to his reproach, lest thou raise a 
murmur against him. For the murmur will not be against him, but 
against the Lord God. And the Deacon, with the rest, will hear 
what Aaron and Miriam heard, when they spake against Moses, 
Sow is it that ye were not afraid to speak against my servant {f^f, 
Moses f And again, Moses saith to those who rose up against him, 
Tour murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord {ie?t 



48 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

Ki} our God. For if he that calleth one of the laity Raca, or 
fool, shall be punished as doing injury to the name of Christ, how 
dareth any man speak against his Bishop, by whom the Lord gave 
the Holy Spirit among you upon the laying on of his hands ; by 
whom ye have learned the sacred doctrines, and have known God, 
and have believed in Christ ; by whom ye were known of God ; by 
whom ye were sealed with the oil of gladness and the ointment of 
understanding ; by whom ye were declared to be the children of 
light ; by whom the Lord in your illumination testified by the impo- 
sition of the Bishop's hands, and sent out his sacred voice upon 
r 2?7 m } every one of you, saying, Thou art my son, this day have 
I begotten thee. By thy Bishop, man, God adopteth thee for his 
child. Acknowledge, son, that right hand which was a mother to 
thee. Love him who, after God, is become a father to thee, and 
honor him. 



XXXIII. 

After what manner the Priests are to be honored and to be rever- 
enced as our spiritual parents. 

For if the Divine Oracle saith concerning our parents according 
2<)l i d 2. } to the flesh, Honor thy father and thy mother, that it may 
2i: 27. } be well with thee ; and, He that curseth his father or his 
mother, let him die the death; how much more should the Word 
exhort you to honor your spiritual parents, and to love them as your 
benefactors and ambassadors with God, who have regenerated you 
by water, and endued you with the fulness of the Holy Spirit, who 
have fed you with the word as with milk, who have nourished you 
with doctrine, who have confirmed you by their admonitions, who have 
imparted to you the saving body and precious blood of Christ, who 
have loosed you from your sins, who have made you partakers of 
the holy and sacred Eucharist, who have admitted you to be par- 
takers and fellow-heirs of the promise of God ! Reverence these, 
and honor them with all kinds of honor ; for they have received from 
God the power of life and death in judging sinners and condemning 
them to the death of eternal fire, as also in loosing the penitent from 
their sins, and restoring them to a new life. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 49 

XXXIV. 

That the Priests are to be preferred before the Rulers and Kings. 

Account these worthy to be esteemed your rulers and kings, and 
bring them tribute as to kings. For by you they and their families 
ought to be maintained. As Samuel made constitutions for the 
people concerning a king, in the first book of Kings, and j 1 K g ngs 
Moses, concerning priests, in Leviticus ; so do we also make consti- 
tutions for you concerning Bishops. For if there the multitude dis- 
tributed the inferior services in proportion to so great a king, ought 
not therefore, the Bishop much more now to receive of you those 
things which are divinely determined for the sustenance of himself, 
and of the rest of the clergy with him ? But, if any thing further 
ought to be said, let the Bishop receive more than the other 
received of old. For he only managed the affairs of the soldiery, 
being intrusted with war and peace for the preservation of men's 
bodies ; but the other is intrusted with the exercise of the priestly 
office in relation to God, in order to preserve both body and soul 
from dangers. By how much, therefore, the soul is more valuable 
than the body, so much the priestly office is beyond the kingly. For 
it bindeth and looseth those that are worthy of punishment or of remis- 
sion. Wherefore, ye ought to love the Bishop as your father, and fear 
him as your king, and honor him as your lord, bringing to him your 
fruits and the works of your hands, for a blessing upon you, giving 
to him your first-fruits, and your tithes, and your oblations, and 
your gifts, as to the priest of God ; the first-fruits of your wheat, 
and wine, and oil, and autumnal fruits, and wool, and all things 
which the Lord God giveth thee. And thine offering shall be 
accepted as a savor of a sweet smell to the Lord thy God ; and the 
Lord will bless the works of thy hands, and will multiply the good, 
things of thy land. For a blessing is upon the head of him \u™T. 
that giveth. 



50 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

XXXV. 

That both the Law and the Gospel prescribe offerings. 

Now ye ought to know, that although the Lord hath delivered you 
from the additional bonds, and hath brought you out of them to 
your refreshment, and doth not permit you to sacrifice irrational 
creatures for sin-offerings, and purifications, and scape-goats, and 
continual washings and sprinklings, yet hath he nowhere freed you 
from those oblations which ye owe to the priests, nor from doing 
5. a 28.} good to the poor. For the Lord saith to you in the Gospel, 
Unless your righteousness abound more than that of the Scribes and 
Pharisees, ye shall by no means enter into the kingdom of heaven. 
Now herein will your righteousness exceed theirs, if ye take 
greater care of the priests, the orphans, and the widows : as it is 
m!™.} written, He hath scattered abroad, he hath given to the poor, 
Sj 27.} his righteousness remaineth for ever. And again, By acts 
of righteousness and faith, iniquities are purged. And again, 
u?25.} Every bountiful soul is blessed. 

So, therefore, shalt thou do as the Lord hath appointed, and 
shalt give to the priest what things are due to him, the first-fruits 
of thy floor and of thy wine-press, and sin-offerings, as to the 
mediator between God and such as stand in need of purification 
and forgiveness. For it is thy duty to give, and his to administer, 
as being the administrator and disposer of ecclesiastical affairs. 

Yet thou shalt not call thy Bishop to account, nor watch his ad- 
ministration, how he performeth it, when, or to whom, or where, or 
whether he do it well or ill, or indifferently ; for he hath one who 
will call him to an account, the Lord God, who put this administra- 
tion into his hands, and thought him worthy of the priesthood of 
so great dignity. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 51 



XXXVI. 

Mention of the ten commandments ; and after what manner they 

prescribe. 

Have before thine eyes the fear of God, and always remember 
the ten commandments of God : to love the one and only Lord 
God with all thy strength ; to give no heed to idols, or such like, 
as being lifeless gods, or irrational beings, or demons. Consider 
the manifold workmanship of God, which received its beginning 
through Christ. Thou shalt observe the Sabbath, on account of 
Him who ceased from his work of creation, but ceased not from his 
work of providence. It is a rest for meditation of the law, not 
for idleness of the hands. Reject every unlawful lust, every thing 
destructive to men, and all anger. Honor thy parents, as the 
authors of thy being. Love thy neighbor as thyself. Communi- 
cate the necessaries of life to the needy. Avoid swearing falsely, 
and swearing often, and in vain; for thou shalt not be held guiltless. 
Appear not before the priests empty ; and offer thy free-will offer- 
ings continually. Moreover, do not neglect the church of Christ ; 
but go thither in the morning before all thy work, and again meet 
there in the evening, to return thanks to God that he hath preserved 
thy life. Be diligent, and constant, and laborious in thy calling. 
Offer to the Lord thy free-will offerings ; for saith he, Honor J|f° 9 v - 
the Lord with the fruit of thine honest labors. If thou art not able 
to cast any thing considerable into the sacred treasury, yet at least 
bestow upon the strangers one or two or five mites. Lay up 



i Matt. 
!6: 20. 



for thyself heavenly treasure, which neither the moth nor thieves can 
destroy. And, in doing this, judge not thy Bishop, nor any of thy 
neighbors among the laity ; for if thou judge thy brother, thou 
becomest a judge, without being constituted such by any body ; for 
the priests only are intrusted with the power of judging. For to 
them it is said, Judge righteous judgment ; and again, Ap- {f. e g; 
prove yourselves to be exact money-changers. For to you this is not 
intrusted ; for, on the contrary, it is said to those who are not of the 
dignity of magistrates or ministers, Judge not, and ye shall {£ u |f 
not be judged. 



52 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 



XXXVII. 

Concerning accusers and false accusers ; and how a judge is not 
rashly either to believe them or to disbelieve them, but after an 
accurate examination. 

But it is the duty of the Bishop to judge rightly ; as it is writ- 
7? h 24:} * en > Judge righteous judgment ; and elsewhere, Why do ye 
i2^ii] not, even of yourselves, judge what is right? Be ye there- 
fore as skilful dealers in money. For as these reject bad money, 
but take to themselves what is current : in the same manner it is 
the Bishop's duty to retain the unblamable, but either to heal, or, if 
they be past cure, to cast off those that are blameworthy, so as not 
to be hasty in cutting off, nor to believe all accusations. For it 
sometimes happeneth that some, either through passion or envy, 
^H 1, } insist on a false accusation against a brother ; as did the two 
G 3 e 9 n - \ elders in the case of Susanna, in Babylon, and the Egyptian 
woman in the case of Joseph. Do thou, therefore, as a man of God, 
not rashly receive such accusations, lest thou take away the innocent, 
and slay the righteous. For he that will receive such accusations 
is the author of anger, rather than of peace. But where there is 
anger, there the Lord is not. For that anger, which is the friend 
of Satan, — I mean that which is excited unjustly by the means of 
false brethren, — never suffereth unanimity to be in the church. 
Wherefore, when ye know such persons to be foolish, quarrelsome, 
passionate, and delighting in mischief, do not give credit to tbem ; 
but observe such as they are, when ye hear any thing from them 
against their brother. For murder is nothing in their eyes, and 
they cast a man down in such a way as one would not suspect. 

Do thou, therefore, consider diligently the accuser, wisely observ- 
ing his conversation, what, and of what sort, it is ; and in case thou 
find him a man of veracity, do according to the doctrine of the Lord ; 
and, taking him who is accused, rebuke him privately, that he may 
repent. But, if he be not persuaded, take with thee one or two 
more, and thus show him his fault, and admonish him with mildness 
i4:°3a.} and instruction ; for ivisdom will rest upon a heart that is 
good, but is not understood in the heart of the foolish. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 53 



XXXVIII. 

That they who sin are to be privately reproved, and the penitent to 
be received, according to the constitution of our Lord. 

If, therefore, he be persuaded by the mouth of you three, it is 
well. But if any one harden himself, Tell it to the church, {i^ii. 
But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be to thee as a heathen 
man and a publican ; and receive him no longer into the church as 
a Christian, but reject him as a heathen. But if he be willing to 
repent, receive him. For the church doth not receive a heathen or 
a publican to communion, before they every one repent of their 
former iniquities. For our Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, hath 
appointed place for the acceptance of men upon their repentance. 



XXXIX. 

Examples of Repentance. 

For I, Matthew, one of the twelve who speak to you in this doc- 
trine, am an apostle, having myself been formerly a publican, but 
now have obtained mercy through believing, and have repented of 
my former practices, and have been accounted worthy to be an 
apostle, and preacher of the word. And Zaccheus, whom the 
Lord received upon his repentance and prayers to him, was also 
himself in the same manner a publican at first. And besides, even 
the soldiers and multitude of publicans, who came to hear the word 
of the Lord concerning repentance, heard this from the prophet 
John, after he had baptized them, Do nothing more than {if 13/ 
that which is appointed you. In like manner, life is not refused 
to the heathen, if they repent, and cast away their unbelief. 

Esteem, therefore, every one that is convicted of any wicked 
action, and has not repented, as a publican or a heathen. But if he 
afterwards repent, and turn from his error, then as we receive them 
into the church indeed to hear the word, but do not receive them 
to communion, until they, having received the seal, are made com- 
plete Christians ; so do we also permit such as these to enter only 



54 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

to hear, until they show the fruit of repentance, that, by hearing the 
word, they may not utterly and irrecoverably perish. But let them 
not be admitted to communion in prayer ; and let them depart after 
the reading of the Law, and the Prophets, and the Gospel, that by 
such departure they may be made better in their course of life, by 
endeavoring to meet every day about the public assemblies, and to be 
frequent in prayer, that they also may be at length admitted, and 
that those who behold them may be affected, and be more secured 
by fearing to fall into the same condition. 



XL. 

That ive are not to be implacable towards him who hath once or tivice 

offended. 

But yet do not thou, Bishop, presently abhor any person who 
hath fallen into one or two offences, nor shalt thou exclude him from 
the word of the Lord, nor reject him from common intercourse ; 
since neither did the Lord refuse to eat with publicans and sinners ; 
and, when he was accused by the Pharisees on this account, he said, 
"ffik} They that are well have no need of a physician, but they 
that are sick. Converse and dwell, therefore, with those who are 
separated from you for their sins, and take care of them, comfort- 
^Sf.'} m g them, and confirming them, and saying, Be strengthened, 
ye weak hands and feeble knees. For ye ought to comfort those 
that mourn, and afford encouragement to the faint-hearted, lest by 
immoderate sorrow they degenerate into distraction ; since he that 
h?29. \ is faint-hearted is exceedingly distracted. 



XLI. 

How we ought to receive the penitent, and how to bear with them that 
sin, and when to cut them off from the church. 

But if any one return, and show forth the fruit of repentance, 
L5? k i e i-} th en receive him to prayer, as the lost son, the prodigal, 
who had consumed his father's substance with harlots ; ivho fed 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 55 

swine, and desired to be fed with husks, and could not obtain them. 
When this son repented, and returned to his father, and said, I have 
sinned against Heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be 
called thy son ; the father, full of affection to his child, received 
him with music, and restored to him his former robe, and ring, and 
shoes, and slew the fatted calf, and made merry with his friends. 

Do thou, therefore, Bishop, act in the same manner ; and as 
thou receivest a heathen, after thou hast instructed and baptized him, 
so do thou let all join in prayers for this man, and restore him by 
imposition of hands to his ancient place among the flock, as one 
purified by repentance. And that imposition of hands shall be to 
him instead of baptism. >± For, by the laying on of our hands, the 
Holy Ghost was given to believers. And, in case some one of those 
brethren who had stood immovable accuse thee because thou art 
reconciled to him, say to him, Thou art always with me, and all 
that I have is thine. It was meet to make merry and be glad; for 
this thy brother was dead, and is alive again ; he was lost, and is 
found. 

For that God doth not only receive the penitent, but restoreth 
them to their former dignity, holy David is a sufficient witness ; 
who, after his sin in the matter of Uriah, prayed to God, and said, 
Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me { p |o lm 
with thy free spirit. And again, Turn thy face from my sins, and 
blot out all mine offences. Create in me a clean heart, God, and 
renew a right spirit in mine inward parts. Cast me not away from 
thy presence, and take not thy holy spirit from me. 

As a compassionate physician, therefore, do thou heal all that sin, 
making use of saving methods of cure ; not only cutting and sear- 
ing, or using corrosives, but binding up, and dressing with lint, and 
using gentle healing medicines, and sprinkling comfortable words. 
If it be a hollow wound or great gash, nourish it with a suitable 
plaster, that it may be filled up, and become even with the rest of 
the whole flesh. If it be foul, cleanse it with corrosive powder, 
that is, with the words of reproof. If it have proud flesh, eat it 
down with a sharp plaster, the threats of judgment. If it spread 
farther, sear it, and cut off the putrid flesh, subduing it with 
fastings. But if, after all that thou hast done, thou perceivest that 
from the feet to the head there is no room for a fomentation, or oil, 
or bandage, but that the malady spreadeth, and preventeth all cure, 



56 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

as a gangrene, which corrupteth the entire member ; then, with a 
great deal of consideration, and the advice of other skilful physi- 
cians, cut off the putrified member, that the whole body of the 
church be not corrupted. Be not therefore ready and hasty to cut 
off, nor do thou easily have recourse to the saw, with its many 
teeth ; but first use a lancet to lay open the wound, that the inward 
cause, whence the pain is derived, being drawn out, may keep the 
body free from pain. But if thou seest any one past repentance, 
and he hath become insensible, then, with sorrow and lamentation, cut 
D?ut r ; n: 1 !:} off from the church the incurable. For, Put away from 
isfli.} among yourselves that wicked person. And, Ye shall make 
f e i7.' } the children of Israel circumspect. And, again, Thou shalt 
mih.} n °t accept the persons of the rich in judgment. And, Thou 
2^°i; } shalt not pity a poor man in his cause ; for the judgment is 
the Lord's. 



XLIL 

That a Judge must not be a respecter of persons. 

But if the slanderous accusation be false, and ye that are the 
pastors, with the deacons, admit that falsehood for truth, either by 
acceptance of persons or by receiving bribes, as willing to do that 
which will be pleasing to the devil ; and so ye thrust out him that is 
accused, but is clear of the crime ; ye shall give an account in the 
2 J. x 7 ° d g } day of the Lord. For it is written, The innocent and the 
27t U 25.} righteous thou shalt not slay. Thou shalt not take gifts to 
i6:i9.} smite the soul ; for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and 
J lf IS: } destroy the words of the righteous. And, again, They that 
justify the wicked for gifts, and take away the righteousness of the 
righteous from him. 

Take care, therefore, lest by any means ye become accepters of 
persons, and thereby fall under this voice of the Lord. Be careful 
therefore not to condemn any unjustly, and so to assist the wicked. 
Ko.'} F° r > W° e t° h™ 1 that calleth evil good, and good evil, bitter 
sweet, and sweet bitter ; that putteth light for darkness, and dark- 
ness for light. For if ye condemn others unjustly, ye pass sentence 
n v^2. ) against yourselves. For the Lord saith, With what judg- 
ef 37! } ment ye judge, ye shall be judged ; and as ye condemn, ye 
shall be condemned. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 57 

If, therefore, ye judge without respect of persons, ye will dis- 
cover that accuser who beareth false witness against his neighbor, 
and will prove him to be a sycophant, a spiteful person, and a 
murderer, causing perplexity (by accusing the man as if he were 
wicked), inconstant in his words, contradicting himself in what he 
affirmetn, and entangled with the words of his own mouth. For 
his own lips are a dangerous snare to him. Whom, when thou hast 
convicted him of speaking falsely, thou shalt judge severely, and 
shalt deliver him to the fiery sword, and thou shalt do to him as he 
wickedly purposed to do to his brother. For, as much as in him 
lay, he slew his brother, by forestalling the ears of the | Sl u i9. 
judge. Now, it is written, that He that sheddeth man's \ ^f"; 
blood, for that his oivn blood shall be shed. And, Tliou {i^ii 
shalt take away from thee that innocent blood ivhich was shedivith- 
out cause. 



XLIII. 

How false accusers are to be punished. 

Thou shalt, therefore, cast him out of . the congregation as a 
murderer of his brother. Sometime afterwards, if he say that he 
repenteth, mortify him with fastings ; and afterwards ye shall lay 
your hands upon him, and receive him ; but still securing him, that he 
do not disturb any one a second time. But if, when he is admitted 
again, he be alike troublesome, and will not cease to disturb, and to 
quarrel with his brother, spying faults out of a contentious spirit, 
cast him out as a pernicious person, that he may not lay waste the 
church of God. For such a one is a raiser of disturbances in cities ; 
for he, though he be within, doth not become the church, but is a 
superfluous and vain member, casting a blot, as far as in him lieth, 
on the body of Christ. For if such men as are born with super- 
fluous members of their body, which hang to them, as fingers, or 
excrescences of flesh, cut them away from themselves on account of 
their unseemliness, and nothing that is unseemly cometh any more, 
the man recovering his natural good shape by means of the 
surgeon ; how much more ought ye, the pastors of the church (for 
the church is a perfect body and sound members, such as believe 
God, in the fear of the Lord and in love), to do the like, when there is 



58 CONSTITUTIONS OF [EOOK II. 

found in it a superfluous member, with wicked designs, and render- 
ing the rest of the body unseemly, and disturbing it with sedition, 
and war, and evil speaking ; causing fears, disturbances, blots, 
calumnies, accusations, disorders, and doing the like works of the 
devil, as if he were ordained by the devil to cast reproach on the 
church by slanders, and much disorder, and strife, and division ! 

Such a one, therefore, when he is a second time cast out of the 
church, is justly cut off entirely from the congregation of the Lord. 
And now the church will be more beautiful than it was before, when 
it had a superfluous, and, to itself, a disagreeable member. Where- 
fore, henceforward it will be free from blame and reproach, and 
become clear of such wicked, deceitful, abusive, unmerciful, traitor- 
i; T 3™4.} ous persons, of such as are haters of those that are goods 
lovers of pleasure, affecters of vain glory, deceivers, and pretenders 
to wisdom, such as make it their business to scatter, or rather 
utterly to disperse, the lambs of the Lord. 

Do thou, therefore, Bishop, together with thy subordinate 
clergy, endeavor rightly to divide the word of truth. For the Lord 
26: 6 27. \ saith, If ye walk cross-grained to me, I ivill walk cross- 
n? a 2c!} grained to you. And elsewhere, With the holy thou wilt be 
holy, and with the perfect man thou wilt be perfect, and with the 
froivard thou wilt be froward. Proceed, therefore, in a holy manner, 
that ye may rather appear worthy of praise from the Lord, than, on 
the contrary, of reproach. 

XLIV. 

That the Deacon is to ease the burden of the Bishops, and to order 
the smaller matters himself. 

Being, therefore, unanimous among yourselves, ye Bishops, be 
at peace with one another ; be sympathetic, and be filled with broth- 
erly love. Feed the people with care ; teach, with one consent, 
those that are under you to be of the same sentiments, and to be of 
i ?ll. \ the same opinions, about the same matters, that there may 
be no schisms among you, that ye may be one body, and one spirit, 
4: pl 4: } perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same 
judgment, according to the appointment of the Lord. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 59 

And let the Deacon refer all things to the Bishop, as Christ cloth 
to his Father. But let him order such things as he is able by him- 
self, receiving power from the Bishop, as the Lord did from his 
Father the power of creation and providence. But the weighty 
matters let the Bishop judge. But let the Deacon be the Bishop's 
ear, and eye, and mouth, and heart, and soul, that the Bishop may 
not be distracted with many cares, but with such only as are more 
considerable ; as Jethro appointed for Moses, and his coun- { E i 8 0d ' 
sel was received. 



XLV. 

That contentions and quarrels are unbecoming Christians. 

It is indeed a beautiful encomium for a Christian to have no con- 
test with any one. But if, by any management or temptation, a 
contest arise with any one, let him endeavor that it may be com- 
posed, though thereby he be obliged to lose somewhat ; and let it 
not come before a heathen tribunal. Still further, ye are not to 
permit that the rulers of this world pass sentence against your 
people. For by them the devil contriveth mischief to the servants 
of God, and causeth a reproach to be cast upon us, as though we 
had not one wise man that is able to judge between his breth- {^f: 
ren, or to decide their controversies. 



XLVI. 

That believers ought not to go to law before unbelievers ; nor ought 
any unbeliever to be called for a witness against believers. 

Let not the heathen, therefore, know of your differences with one 
another, nor receive ye unbelievers as witnesses against yourselves, 
nor be judged by them ; nor owe them any thing on account of im- 
posts or taxes ; but, Render to Qazsar the things that are {2^21. 
Caisar's, and unto Grod the things that are Gf-od's, as taxes or tribute, 
or what was levied on every Jew ; as our Lord, by giving a piece 
of money, was freed from disturbance. Choose, therefore, rather to 
suffer harm, and to endeavor after those things that make for peace, 



60 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

not only among the brethren, but also among the unbelievers. For, 
by suffering loss in the affairs of this life, thou wilt be sure not to 
suffer in the concerns of piety, and wilt live religiously, and accord- 
ing to the command of Christ. But if brethren have lawsuits one 
with another, which God forbid, ye who are the rulers ought thence to 
learn that such as these perform the work, not of brethren in the 
Lord, but rather of public enemies ; and one of the parties will be 
found to be mild, gentle, and the child of light ; but the other, un- 
merciful, insolent, and covetous. 

He, therefore, who is condemned, let him be punished, let him be 
separated, let him undergo the punishment of his hatred to his 
brother. Afterward, when he repenteth, let him be received ; and 
so, when they have learned prudence, they will ease your judica- 
tures. It is also a duty to forgive each other's trespasses ; not the 
duty of those that judge, but of those that have quarrels ; as the 
ii a 2i. \ Lord determined when I, Peter, asked him, How oft shall 
my brother sin against me, and I forgive him f Till seven times ? 
He replied, I say not unto thee, until seven times, bat until seventy 
times seven. For so would our Lord have us to be truly his disci- 
ples, and never to have any thing against any one ; as, for instance, 
anger without measure, passion without mercy, covetousness without 
justice, or hatred without reconciliation. By your instruction draw 
those who are angry to friendship, and those who are at variance to 
5: a "'} agreement. For the Lord saith, Blessed are the jjeace^ma- 
hers ; for they shall be called the children of God. 



XLVII. 

That the judicatures of Christians ought to be held on the second 
day of the iveek. 

Let your judicatures be held on the second day of the week, that, 
if any controversy arise about your sentence, having an interval till 
the Sabbath, ye may be able to set the controversy right, and to 
bring the contending parties to peace, against the Lord's day. 

Let also the deacons and presbyters be present at your judica- 
tures, to judge without acceptance of persons, as men of God, with 
righteousness. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 61 

When, therefore, both the parties are come, according as the Law 
saith, they shall both stand in the middle of the court ; and {iS e i|; 
when ye have heard them, give your votes religiously, endeavoring to 
make them both friends before the sentence of the Bishop, that 
judgment against the offender may not go abroad into the world ; 
knowing that he (the Bishop) hath in the court the Christ of God, 
observing and approving his judgment. But if any persons a e 
accused by any one, and their fame suffereth, as if they did not walk 
uprightly in the Lord ; in like manner, ye shall hear both parties, 
the accuser and the accused, but not with prejudice, nor with heark- 
ening to one party only, but with righteousness, as passing a sen- 
tence concerning eternal life or death. For, saith God, He {iSflo. 
shall prosecute, that which is right justly. For he that is justly pun- 
ished and separated by you is rejected from eternal life and glory. 
He becometh dishonorable among holy men, and one condemned of 
God. 



XLVIII. 

That the same punishment is not to be inflicted for every offence, 
but different punishments for different offenders. 

Do not pass the same sentence for every sin, but one suitable to 
each crime, distinguishing, with much prudence, all the several sorts 
of offences, the small and the great. Treat a wicked action after one 
manner, and a wicked word after another, and a base intention still 
otherwise. So also in the case of a contumely or a suspicion. And 
some thou shalt curb by threatenings alone ; some thou shalt punish 
by fines to the poor ; some thou shalt mortify with fastings ; and 
others thou shalt separate, according to the greatness of their sev- 
eral crimes. For the Law did not allot the same punishment to every 
offence, but had a different regard to a sin against God, against the 
priest, against the temple, or against the sacrifice, from a sin against 
the king or ruler, or a soldier, or a fellow-subject ; and so were the 
offences different which were against a servant, or a possession, or 
an irrational creature. And again, sins were differently rated, ac- 
cording as they were against parents and kinsmen, and those differ- 
ently which were done on purpose, from those that happened invol- 
untarily. Accordingly the punishments were different ; as death, 



62 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

either by crucifixion or by stoning ; fines, scourgings, or the suffer- 
ing of the same mischiefs which the criminal had done to others. 

Wherefore do ye also allot different penalties to different offences, 
lest any injustice should happen, and provoke God to indignation. 
For of what unjust judgment soever ye are the instruments, of the 
^ a !*-} same ye shall receive the reward from God. For with what 
judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. 



XLIX. 

What are to be the characters of accusers and witnesses. 

When, therefore, ye are seated in your tribunal, and the parties 
are both of them present (for we will not call them brethren, until 
they receive each other in peace), examine diligently concerning 
those who appear before you ; and first concerning the accuser, 
whether this be the first person he hath accused, or whether he hath 
advanced accusations against some others before ; and whether this 
contest and accusation do not arise from some quarrel of the parties ; 
and what is the general conduct of the accuser. Yet, though he be 
of a good conscience, do not give credit to him alone ; for that is 
contrary to the Law. But let him have others to join in his testi- 
mony, and those of the same course of life. As the Law saith, 
m%. } At the mouth of two or three witnesses every thing shall be 
established. 

But why did we say that the life of the witnesses was to be 
inquired after, of what sort it is ? Because it frequently happeneth 
that two and more testify for mischief, and with joint consent prefer a 
^ } lie ; as did the two elders against Susanna, in Babylon, and 
3K ™s s '} the sons of transgressors against Naboth, in Samaria, and 
Matt. ^ tn e multitude of the Jews against our Lord, at Jerusalem 
iTi. } and against Stephen, his first martyr. Let the witnesses, 
therefore, be meek, free from anger, full of equity, kind, prudent, 
continent, free from wickedness, faithful, religious ; for the testi- 
mony of such persons is firm on account of their character, and true 
on account of their deportment. But as to those of a different 
character, receive not their testimony, although they seem to agree 
together in their evidence against the accused. For it is ordained 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 63 

in the Law, Thou shalt not be with a multitude for wicked- { 2 ?fi, a 2. 
ness. Thou shalt not receive a vain report. Thou shalt not consent 
with a multitude to pervert judgment. 

Ye ought also particularly to know him that is accused, what he 
is in his course of life and in his deportment, whether he hath a 
good report as to his life, whether he hath been unblamable, 
whether he hath been zealous in holiness, whether he is a lover of 
the widows, a lover of the strangers, a lover of the poor, and a lover 
of the brethren ; whether he is not given to filthy lucre ; whether 
he is not an extravagant person, or a spendthrift ; whether he is 
sober, and free from luxury, or a drunkard, or a glutton ; whether 
he is compassionate and libe/al. 



L. 

That former offences sometimes render subsequent ones credible. 

For if he hath been before addicted to wicked works, the accusa- 
tions which are now brought against him will thence, in some 
measure, appear to be true, unless justice do plainly plead for him. 
For it may be, that, though he had formerly been an offender, yet 
that he may not be guilty of this crime of which he is accused. 
Wherefore, be thoroughly cautious about such circumstances, and 
so render your sentences, when pronounced against an offender con- 
victed, safe and firm. And if, after his separation, he beg pardon, 
and fall down before the Bishop, and acknowledge his fault, receive 
him. But suffer not a false accuser to go unpunished, lest he either 
calumniate another who liveth virtuously, or encourage some other 
person to do like himself. On the other hand, indeed, suffer not a 
person convicted to go off clear, lest another be ensnared in the same 
crimes. For neither shall a witness of mischiefs be unpunished, nor 
shall he that offendeth be without censure. 



64 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

LI. 

Against judging ivithout hearing both sides. 

We said before that judgment ought not to be given upon hearing 
only one of the parties. For if ye hear one of them when the other 
is not present, and so cannot make his defence to the accusation 
brought against him, and rashly give your notes for condemnation, 
ye will be found guilty of that man's destruction, and partakers 
26: i7. \ ^h the false accuser before God, the just Judge. For, As 
he that holdeth the tail of a dog, so is he that presideth at unjust 
judgment. 

But if ye become imitators of the elders in Babylon, who, when 
they had borne witness against Susanna, unjustly condemned her to 
death, ye will become obnoxious to their judgment and condemna- 
tion. For the Lord, by Daniel, delivered Susanna from the hand 
of the ungodly, but condemned to the fire those elders who were 
guilty of her blood ; and he reproacheth you by him, saying, Are 
ye so foolish, ye children of Israel? Without examination, and 
without knowing the truth, ye have condemned a daughter of Israel. 
Meturn again to the place of judgment ; for these men have borne 
witness against her. 



LIL 

The caution observed at heathen tribunals before the condemnation of 
criminals, afforcleth Christians a good example. 

Consider even the judicatures of this world, by whose power we 
see murderers, adulterers, wizards, robbers of sepulchres, and thieves, 
brought to trial; for those that preside, when they have received 
their accusations from those that brought them, ask the malefactor 
whether those things are so. And though he acknowledge the 
crime, they do not presently send him out to punishment, but for 
several days they make inquiry concerning him, with a full council, 
and with the veil interposed. And he that is to pass the final 
decree and suffrage of death against him, lifteth up his hands to the 
sun, and solemnly affirmeth that he is innocent of the blood of the 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 65 

man. Though they are heathens, and know not the Deity, nor the 
vengeance which will fall upon men from God, on account of those 
that are unjustly condemned, yet they avoid such unjust judgments. 



LIII. 

That Christians ought not to have contentions one with another. 

But ye who know who our God is, and what are his judgments, 
how can ye bear to pass an unjust judgment, since your sentence 
will be immediately known to God ? And if ye have judged 
righteously, . ye will be deemed worthy of the recompenses of 
righteousness, both now and hereafter ; but, if unrighteously, ye will 
partake of the like. We therefore advise you, brethren, rather to 
deserve commendation from God than rebukes ; for the commen- 
dation of God is eternal life to men, as is his rebuke everlasting 
death. 

Be ye, therefore, righteous judges, peace-makers, and without 
anger. For He that is angry without a cause is obnoxious { f^i. 
to the judgment. But if it happen, that by any one's contrivance 
ye are angry at any body, Let not the sun go down upon { fP^. 
your wrath. For, saith David, Be angry, and sin not ; that { p 4 s : a 4 m 
is, be soon reconciled, lest your wrath continue so long that it turn 
to a settled hatred, and work sin. For the souls of those [u] ^. 
that bear a settled hatred are to death, saith Solomon. But our 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ saith in the Gospels, If thou { 5 ™3%. 
bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother 
hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go 
thy way ; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer 
thy gift. Now the gift is every one's eucharistical prayer and 
thanksgiving. If, therefore, thou hast any thing against thy 
brother, or he hath any thing against thee, neither will thy prayers 
be heard, nor will thy thanksgivings be accepted, by reason of that 
hidden anger. But it is your duty, brethren, to pray continually ; 
yet, because God heareth not those who are at enmity with their 
brethren by unjust quarrels, even though they should pray three 
times an hour, it is our duty to compose all our enmity and bitter- 
ness of soul, that we may be able to pray with a pure and unpolluted 
5 



66 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

heart. For the Lord commanded us to love even our enemies, and 
wfij.} D J n0 means to hate our friends. And the lawgiver saith, 
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy mind. Thou shalt certainly 
?3 e : U 7: } reprove thy brother, and not incur sin on his account. Thou 
shalt not hate an Egyptian, for thou wast a sojourner with him. 
Thou shalt not hate an Idumcean, for he is thy brother. And 
psaim | David saith, If I have repaid those that requited me 
evil. 

Wherefore, if thou wilt be a Christian, follow the Law of the 
1 s&6.'} Lord : Loose every band of wickedness. For the Lord 
hath given thee authority to remit to thy brother those sins which 
he hath committed against thee, as far as seventy times seven, that 
is, four hundred and ninety times. How often, therefore, hast thou 
remitted to thy brother, that thou art unwilling to do it now ? when 
|. e i7; } thou hast heard Jeremiah saying, Do not any of you impute 
the ivickedness of his neighbor in your hearts. But thou remem- 
f*&\ { berest injuries, and keepest enmity, and comest into judg- 
ment, and art suspicious of his anger, and thy prayer is hindered. 
Nay, if thou hast remitted to thy brother four hundred and ninety 
times, do thou still multiply thine acts of gentleness more to do good 
for thine own sake. Although he may not do so, yet do thou en- 
f & H} deavor to forgive thy brother for God's sake, that thou 
mayest be the son of thy Father who is in heaven ; and, when 
thou prayest, mayest be heard of God. 



LIV. 

That the Bishops must by their Deacon put the people in mind of 
the obligation they are under to live peaceably together. 

Wherefore, Bishops, when ye are to go to prayer, after the 
lessons, and the psalmody, and the instruction out of the Scriptures, 
let the Deacon stand nigh you, and with a loud voice say, Let no one 
have any quarrel against another ; let no one come in hypocnsy ; — 
that, if there be any controversy found among any of you, they may 
be affected in conscience, and may pray to God, and be reconciled to 
their brethren. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 67 

For if, upon coming into any one's house, we are to say, Peace be 
to this house, like sons of peace bestowing peace on those who are 
worthy, as it is written, To them that are nigh, and to them that are 
far off, whom the Lord knoweth to be his ; much more is it incum- 
bent on those that enter into the church of God before all things to 
pray for the peace of God. But if one pray for it upon others, much 
more let himself be within the same, as a child of light ; for he that 
hath it not within himself is not fit to bestow it upon others. On 
which account, before all things, it is our duty to be at peace in our 
own minds ; for he that doth not find any disorder in himself, will 
not quarrel with another, but will be peaceable, friendly, gathering 
the Lord's people, and a fellow-worker with him, in order to increase 
the number of those that shall be saved in unanimity. For those 
who contrive enmities, and strifes, and contests, and lawsuits, are 
wicked, and aliens from God. 



LV. 

An enumeration of several instances of Divine Providence, and 
hoiv, in every age from the beginning, Crod hath invited all men 
to repentance. 

For God, being a God of mercy from the beginning, called every 
generation to repentance, by righteous men and prophets. He 
instructed those before the flood by Abel, and Shem, and Seth ; 
also by Enos, and by Enoch, that was translated ; those at the flood, 
by Noah ; the inhabitants of Sodom, by hospitable Lot ; those after 
the flood, by Melchisedek, and the patriarchs, and Job, the beloved 
of God ; the Egyptians, by Moses ; the Israelites, by him, and 
Joshua, and Caleb, and Phineas, and the rest ; those after the 
Law, by angels and prophets ; and the same, by his own incarnation 
proceeding from the Holy Spirit and from the Virgin ; those a little 
before his bodily appearance, by John, his forerunner ; and the same, 
by the same person after Christ's birth, saying, Repent {Yfifc 
ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand ; those after his passion, 
by us the twelve apostles, and Paul, the chosen vessel. 

We, therefore, who have been accounted worthy of being the wit- 
nesses of his appearance, together with James, the brother of our 
Lord, and the seventy-two disciples, and his seven deacons, have 



68 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

heard from the mouth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and bj exact knowl- 
12T2:} ea *ge declare what is the will of God, that good, and accept- 
able, and perfect will, which is made known to us by Jesus ; that 
none should perish, but that all men, with one accord, should believe 
in him, and send up to him harmonious praise, and thus have ever- 
lasting life. 



LYI. 

That it is the will of God that men should be of one mind in mat- 
ters of religion, like the heavenly powers. 

For this is that which our Lord taught us, when we pray, to say 
¥. a io.} to his Father, Thy will be done, as in heaven, so upon earth; 
that as the heavenly natures of the incorporeal powers do all glorify 
God with one consent, so also upon earth, all men, with one mouth 
and one purpose, may glorify the only, the one and true God, by 
Christ, his only-begotten. 

It is therefore his will that men should praise him with unanimity, 
and adore him with one consent. For this is his will in Christ, that 
those who are saved by him may be many ; but that ye do not occa- 
sion any loss or diminution to him, nor to the church, nor lessen the 
number by one soul of man, as destroyed by you, which might have 
been saved by repentance ; and which, therefore, perisheth not only 
by its own sin, but also by your treachery, whereby ye fulfil that 
iffio.} which is written, He that gather eth not ivith me scatter eth. 
Such a one is a disperser of the sheep, an adversary, an enemy of 
God, a destroyer of those lambs whose shepherd was the Lord ; and 
we were the collectors out of various nations and tongues, by much 
pains and danger, and perpetual labor, by watchings, by fastings, 
by lyings on the ground, by persecutions, by stripes, by imprison- 
ments, that we might do the will of God, and fill the feast-chamber 
with guests to sit down at his table, that is, the holy catholic church, 
with joyful and chosen people, singing hymns and praises to God, 
who hath called them by us to life. And ye, as much as in you 
lieth, have dispersed them. 

Moreover, do ye also of the laity be at peace with one another ; 
endeavoring, like wise men, to increase the church, and to turn 
back, and tame, and restore those who seem wild. For this is the 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 69 

greatest reward by his promise from God, If thou fetch out {if : e i 9 . 
the ivorthy and precious from the unworthy, thou shalt be as my 
mouth. 



LVII. 

An exact description of a church, and the clergy ; and what things 
in particular every one is to do in the solemn assemblies of the 
clergy and laity for religious worship. 

But be thou, Bishop, holy, unblamable, no striker, not soon 
angry, not cruel ; but ^ne that buildeth up, a converter, apt to 
teach, firm in enduring evil, of a gentle mind, meek, long-suffering, 
ready to exhort, ready to comfort, as a man of God. 

When thou callest an assembly of the church, as one that is the 
commander of a great ship, appoint the assemblies to be made with 
all possible skill ; charging the Deacons, as mariners, to prepare 
places for the brethren, as for passengers, with all due care and 
decorum. 

And first, indeed, let the building be long, with its head to the 
east, with its vestries on both sides at the east end ; and so it will 
be like a ship. In the middle let the Bishop's throne be placed ; 
and on each side of him let the Presbytery sit down ; and let the 
Deacons stand near at hand, in close and small girt garments ; for 
they are like the mariners and managers of the ship. Through the 
care of these, let the laity sit in the other part, with all quietness 
and good order; and let the women sit by themselves, keep- 
ing silence. In the middle let the Reader stand upon some high 
place. Let him read the books of Moses, of Joshua the son of Nun, 
of the Judges, and of the Kings, and of the Chronicles, and those 
written after the return from the captivity ; and besides these, the 
books of Job and of Solomon, and of the sixteen prophets. But 
when there have been two lessons severally read, let some other 
person sing the hymns of David, and let the people join at the con- 
clusions of the verses. Afterwards, let our Acts be read, and the 
Epistles of Paul, our fellow-worker, which he sent to the churches 
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit ; and afterwards let a Deacon 
or a Presbyter read the Gospels, both those which I, Matthew, 
and John have delivered to you, and those which Luke and Mark, 
the fellow-workers of Paul, received and left to you. 



70 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

And while the Gospel is read, let all the presbyters and deacons, 
and all the people, stand up in great silence ; for it is written, Be 
De "?'o 2 i 7 . : 9 '} silent and hear, Israel. And again, But do thou 
stand there and hear. 

In the next place, let the Presbyters, one by one, not all together, 
exhort the people, and the Bishop in the last place, as being the 
commander. 

Let the Porters stand at the entries of the men, and observe 
them. Let the Deaconesses also stand at those of the women, like 
isTi-} ship-men. For the same description and pattern was both 
in the tabernacle of the testimony and in the temple of God. But 
if any one be found sitting out of his place, let him be rebuked by 
the Deacon, as a messenger of the fore-ship, and be removed into 
the place proper for him. For the church is not only like a ship, 
but also like a sheep-fold ; for as the shepherds place all the irra- 
tional animals distinctly, I mean goats and sheep, according to their 
kind and age ; and still every one runneth together, like to his like ; 
so is it to be in the church. Let the young persons sit by themselves, 
if there be a place for them ; if not, let them stand up. But let 
those who are already stricken in years sit in order. As to the 
children that stand, let their fathers and mothers take them to them- 
selves. Let the younger women also sit by themselves, if there be 
a place for them : but, if there be not, let them stand behind the 
women. Let those women who are married, and have children, be 
placed by themselves. But let the virgins, and the widows, and the 
elder women, stand first of all, or sit ; and let the Deacon be the 
disposer of the places, that every one of those that come in may go 
to his proper place, and may not sit at the entrance. In like man- 
ner let the Deacon oversee the people, that no one may whisper, 
nor slumber, nor laugh, nor nod. For in the church all ought to 
stand wisely, and soberly, and attentively, having their attention 
fixed upon the word of the Lord. 

After this, let all rise up with one consent, and, looking towards 
the east, after the catechumens and the penitents are gone out, pray 
wfsS!} to God eastward, who ascended up to the heaven of heavens 
to the east ; remembering also the ancient situation of paradise in 
the east, whence the first man, when he had yielded to the per- 
suasion of the serpent, and disobeyed the command of God, was 
expelled. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 71 

As to the Deacons, after the prayer is over, let some of them 
attend upon the oblation of the Eucharist, ministering to the Lord's 
body. Let others of them watch the multitude, and keep them 
silent. But let that Deacon who is at the High Priest's hand, say 
to the people, Let no one have any quarrel against another. Let 
no one come in hypocrisy. Then let the men give the men, and the 
women give the women, the Lord's kiss. But let no one do it with 
deceit, as Judas betrayed the Lord with a kiss. 

After this let the Deacon pray for the whole church, for the whole 
world, and the several parts of it, and the fruits of it ; for the priests 
and the rulers, for the high priest and the king, and for universal 
peace. After this, let the High Priest pray for peace upon the 
people, and bless them in these words : The Lord bless ffilH; 
thee, and keep thee ; the Lord make his face to shine upon thee, and 
give thee peace. Let the Bishop pray for the people, and say, Save 
thy people, Lord, and bless thine inheritance, which thou hast 
obtained with the precious blood of thy Christ, and hast called a 
royal priesthood and a holy nation. 

Then let the sacrifice follow, all the people standing, and praying 
silently ; and, when the oblation hath been made, let every rank by 
itself partake of the Lord's body and precious blood, in order, and 
approach with reverence and holy fear, as to the body of their King. 
Let the women approach with their heads covered, as is becoming 
the order of women. Moreover, let the door be watched, lest there 
come in any unbeliever, or one not yet initiated. 



LVIII. 

Of commendatory letters in favor of strangers, lay persons, clergy- 
men, and Bishops ; and that those who come into the church 
assemblies are to be received without regard to their quality. 

If any one, a brother or a sister, come in from another parish, 
bringing recommendatory letters, let the Deacon be the judge of 
that affair, inquiring whether they are of the faithful, and of the 
church ; whether they are not defiled by heresy ; and, besides, 
whether the sister is a married woman or a widow. And when he 
is satisfied in these questions, that they are really of the faithful, 



72 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

and of the same sentiments in the things of the Lord, let him con- 
duct every one to the place proper for him. And if a Presbyter 
come from another parish, let him be received to communion by the 
Presbyters ; if a Deacon, by the Deacons ; if a Bishop, let him sit 
with the Bishop, and be allowed the same honor with himself. And 
thou, Bishop, shalt desire him to speak to the people words of 
instruction ; for the exhortation and admonition of strangers is very 
acceptable, and exceedingly profitable. For, as the Scripture saith, 
john^ I- It } No prophet is accepted in his own country. Thou shalt 
also permit him to offer the Eucharist. But if, out of reverence to 
thee, and as a wise man, to preserve the honor belonging to thee, 
he will not offer, at least thou shalt compel him to give the blessing 
to the people. 

But if, after the congregation are seated, any other person come 
upon you, of good fashion and character in the world, whether he be 
a stranger, or one of your own country, neither do thou, Bishop, 
if thou art speaking the word of God, or hearing him that singeth, 
or that readeth, accept persons so far as to leave the ministry of the 
word, that thou mayest appoint an upper place for him ; but con- 
tinue quiet, not interrupting thy discourse nor thine attention ; but 
let the brethren receive him by the Deacons. And if there be not 
a place, let the Deacon, by speaking, but not in anger, cause some 
younger person to rise, and place the stranger there. And it is but 
reasonable that one who loveth the brethren should do so of his own 
accord : but, if he refuse, let him raise him up by force, and set him 
behind all ; that the rest may be taught to give place to those who 
are more honorable. Nay, if a poor man, or one of a low family, or 
a stranger, come upon you, whether he be old or young, and there 
be no place, the Deacon shall find a place even for these, with all 
his heart ; that, instead of accepting persons before men, his minis- 
tration may be well pleasing to God. The very same thing let the 
Deaconess do for those women that come, whether they be poor or 
rich. 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 73 



LIX. 

That every Christian ought to frequent the church diligently, both 
morning and evening. 

When thou instructest the people, Bishop, command and 
exhort them to come constantly to church, morning and evening, 
every day, and by no means to forsake it on any account, but to 
assemble together continually ; nor to diminish the church by with- 
drawing themselves, and causing the body of Christ to be without 
its members. For it is spoken not only concerning the priests, but 
let every one of the laity hearken to it, as concerning himself ; 
considering that it is said by the Lord, He that is not with {u?fi 
one is against me, and he that gathereth not ivith me scattereth 
abroad. Do not ye, therefore, scatter yourselves abroad, who are 
the members of Christ, by not assembling together ; since, accord- 
ing to his promise, ye have Christ, your Head, present, and 
communicating to you. Be not careless of yourselves, nor deprive 
your Saviour of his own members, nor divide his body, nor disperse 
his members, nor prefer the occasions of this life to the Word of 
God ; but assemble yourselves together every day, morning and 
evening, singing psalms, and praying in the Lord's house, — in the 
morning saying the sixty-second psalm, and in the evening the 
hundred and fortieth ; but principally on the Sabbath-day, and on 
the day of our Lord's resurrection, which is the Lord's day, meet 
more diligently, sending up praise to God that made the universe by 
Jesus, and sent him to us, and condescended to let him suffer, and 
raised him from the dead. Otherwise what apology to God will he 
make, who doth not assemble on that day to hear the saving word 
concerning the resurrection? On which day we pray thrice, 
standing, in memory of him who arose in three days ; and on 
which are the reading of the prophets, the preaching of the gospel, 
the oblation of the sacrifice, and the gift of the holy food. 



74 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 



LX. 

The vain zeal tvhich the Heathen and the Jews show, in frequenting 
their temples and synagogues, is a proper example and motive ta 
excite Christians to frequent the church. 

What, moreover, but an adversary to God can he be who taketh 
pains about temporary things night and day, but taketh no care of 
things eternal ? Who taketh care of washings and temporary 
food every day, but doth not take care of interests that endure for 
ever ? How can such a one, even now, avoid hearing that word of 
S?52.} the Lord, The Gentiles are justified more than you ? as he 
saith by way of reproach to Jerusalem, Sodom is justified rather 
than thou. For if the Gentiles every day, when they arise from 
sleep, run to their idols to worship them, and first of all pray to 
them, before all their work and all their labors ; and in their feasts 
and in their solemnities do not keep away, but attend upon them ; 
and not only those at the place, but those living far distant, do the 
same ; and in their public shows all come together, as into a syna- 
gogue ; — in the same manner, those who are vainly called Jews, 
resting from work after every period of six days, come together 
into their synagogue on the seventh day, never leaving nor neglect- 
ing either rest from labor or assembling together ; while yet they 
are deprived of the efficacy of the word in their unbelief; nay, 
and of the force of that name Judah, by which they call them- 
selves ; for Judah is interpreted confession ; but these, having un- 
justly occasioned the suffering on the cross, do not confess to God, so 
as to be saved on their repentance ; — if, therefore, those who are 
not saved frequently assemble together for such purposes as do not 
profit them, what apology to the Lord God wilt thou make, who 
forsakest his church, not imitating so much as the heathen, but by 
thine absence growest slothful, or turnest apostate, or committest 
^f e 7 k - } iniquity ? To whom the Lord saith by Jeremiah, Ye have 
i6: 47. J. not kept mine ordinances ; nay, ye have not walked accord- 
ing to the ordinances of the heathen, and ye have in a manner 
■l e h. } exceeded them. And again, Israel hath justified his soul 
2: io. 1 ' } more than treacherous Judah. And afterwards, Will the 
Grentiles change their gods, which are not gods f Wherefore 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 75 

pass over to the isles of Chittim, and behold, and send to Kedar, 
and observe diligently whether such things have been done. For 
those nations have not changed their ordinances. But, saith he, my 
people have changed its glory for that tvhichwill not profit. 

How, therefore, will any one make his apology, who hath des- 
pised or absented himself from the church of God ? 



LXI. 

Tliat we must not prefer the affairs of this life to those which concern 
the worship of Qod. 

But if any one bring forward the pretence of his own work, and 
so is a despiser, offering pretences for his sins, let such a one know 
that the trades of the faithful are works by the by ; but the worship 
of God is their great work. Follow, therefore, your trades, as by 
the by, for your maintenance, but make the worship of God your 
main business; as also our Lord said, Labor not for the meat \\fw\ 
which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life. 
And, again, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him {e° h 2»: 
whom he hath sent. 

Endeavor, therefore, never to forsake the church of God. But, if 
any one neglect it, and go either into a polluted temple of the 
heathen, or into a synagogue of the Jews, or of the heretics, what 
apology will such a one make in the day of judgment, who hath for- 
saken the oracles of the living God, that are living and quickening, 
and able to deliver from eternal punishment, and hath gone into a 
house of demons, or into a synagogue of the murderers of Christ, 
or the congregation of the wicked ? not hearkening to him that 
saith, I have hated the congregation of the wicked, and I ffifff. 
will not enter with the ungodly. I have not sat ivith the {2!?™ 
assembly of vanity, nor will I sit with the ungodly. And again, 
Blessed is the man that hath not walked in the counsel of { p £ a \ m 
the ungodly, nor stood in the ivay of sinners, and hath not sat in the 
seat of the scornful ; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and 
in his law will he meditate day and night. But thou, forsaking the 
gathering together of the faithful, the church of God, and his laws, 
hast respect to those dens of thieves, calling those things holy which 



76 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK II. 

he hath called profane, and making those things unclean which he 
hath sanctified. And not only so, but thou already runnest after 
the pomps of the Gentiles, and hastenest to their theatres, being 
desirous to be reckoned one of those that enter into them, and to 
partake of unseemly, not to say abominable words ; not hearkening 
iJ- e i7. } *o Jeremiah, who saith, Lord, I have not sal in their 
assemblies, for they are s comer s ; but I was afraid, because of thy 
fi: b 5.} hand ; nor to Job, who speaketh in like manner, If I have 
gone at any time with the scornful ; for I shall be weighed in a just 
balance. But why wilt thou be a partaker of the heathen oracles, 
which are nothing but dead men, declaring, by the inspiration of the 
devil, deadly things, and such as tend to subvert the faith, and to 
draw to polytheism those that attend to them ? 

Do ye, therefore, who attend to the laws of God, esteem those 
laws more honorable than the necessities of life, and pay a greater 
respect to them, and run together to the church of the Lord. 
lofls. } which he hath fur chased with the blood of Christ, the beloved, 
Su. } the first-bom of every creature. For this church is the daugh- 
ter of the Highest, which hath been in travail of you by the word of 
grace, and hath formed Christ in you ; of whom ye are made partak- 
f. P 27.} ers, and thereby become his holy and chosen members, not 
having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but as being holy and un- 
spotted in the faith, ye are complete in him, after the image of' God 
that created you. 



LXII. 

That Christians must abstain from all the impious practices of the 

heathen. 

Take heed, therefore, not to join yourselves in your worship with 
those that perish, which is the assembly of the Gentiles, to your de- 
cc and destruction. For there is no fellowship between God and 
the devil. For he that assembleth himself with those that savor 
the things of the devil, will be esteemed one of them, and will 
inherit a woe. 

Avoid also unbecoming spectacles, I mean the theatres and the 
pomps of the heathen, their enchantments, observations of omens, 
soothsayings, purifications, divinations, observations of birds, their 



BOOK II.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 77 

necromancies, and invocations. For it is written, There is \ Jj^ 
no divination in Jacob, nor soothsaying in Israel. And again, 
Divination is iniquity. And elsewhere, Ye shall not be { 1 if : iI 2l*' 
soothsayers, and follow observers of omens, nor diviners, { ^&. 
nor dealers with familiar spirits. Ye shall not preserve { ^JJ; 
alive wizards. Wherefore Jeremiah exhorteth, saying, Walk { jj£\ 
ye not according to the ways of the heathen, and be not afraid 
of the signs of heaven. So that it is the duty of a believer to 
avoid the assemblies of the impious heathen and Jews, and of the 
rest of the heretics, lest, by uniting ourselves to them, we bring 
snares upon our own souls ; that we may not, by joining in their 
feasts, which are celebrated in honor of demons, be partakers with 
them in their impiety. Ye are also to avoid their public meetings, 
and those sports which are celebrated in them. For a believer 
ought not to go to any of those public meetings, unless to purchase 
a slave, and save a soul ; and at the same time to buy such other 
things as suit our necessities. 

Abstain, therefore, from all idolatrous pomp and display, the 
festival assembly, compotations, duels, and all shows belonging to 
demons. 



LXIII. 

That no Christian who will not work must eat ; as Peter and the 
rest of the apostles were fishermen ; Paul and Aquila, tent-makers ; 
and Jade, the son of James, a husbandman. 

Let the young persons of the church endeavor to minister dili- 
gently in all necessaries. Attend to your business with all becom- 
ing seriousness, that so ye may always have sufficient to support 
yourselves, and those that are needy, and not burden the church of 
God. For we ourselves, besides our attention to the word of the 
Gospel, do not neglect our inferior employments ; for some of us 
are fishermen, some tent-makers, some husbandmen, that so we may 
never be idle. So saith Solomon somewhere, Go to the ant, {J^i 
thou sluggard, and consider her ways diligently, and become wiser 
than she. For she, having neither field, overseer, nor ruler, prepareth 
her food in the summer, and layeth up a great store in the harvest. 
Or else go to the bee, and learn hoiv laborious she is, and her work 



78 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK III. 

how valuable it is, whose labors both kings and private men make 
use of for their health. She is desirable and glorious : though she 
be weak in strength, yet, by honoring xoisdom, she is improved. Sow 
long wilt thou lie on thy bed, sluggard ? When wilt thou awake 
out of thy sleep ? Thou steepest a while, thou liest down a while, 
thou slumber est a while, thou f oldest thy hands on thy breast to sleep 
a while. Then poverty cometh on thee like an evil traveller, and 
want as a swift racer. But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall 
come as a fountain ; and want, as a bad man, shall fly from thee. 
jETu.} And again, He that manageth his own land shall be filled 
f?f; ) with bread. And elsewhere he saith, The slothful hath 
folded his hands together, and hath eaten his own flesh. And 
£%.} afterwards, The sluggard hideth his hand; he will not be 
m%.} a °le t° bring it to his mouth. And again, By slothfuhiess 
of the hands a floor will be brought low. 

Labor, therefore, continually ; for the blot of the slothful is not to 
2 3- h io!'} De healed. But if any one do not work, let him not eat 
among you. For the Lord our God hateth the slothful, and no one 
of those who worship him ought to be idle. 



BOOK III. 

CONCERNING WIDOWS 

CHAPTER I. 



That those who are chosen widows ought to be not under sixty years 

of age. 

Choose your widows not under sixty years of age, that in some 
1 ™o 1 ' } measure the suspicion of a second marriage may be pre- 
vented by their age. But if ye admit one younger into the order 
of widows, and she cannot bear her widowhood in her youth, and 
marrieth, she will procure indecent reflections on the glory of the 
order of the widows, and shall give an account to God ; not because 



BOOK III.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 79 



1 Tim. 
5: 11. 



she married a second time, but because she hath waxed wan- 
ton against Christ, and not kept her promise. Wherefore, such a 
promise ought not to be rashly made, but with great caution. For 
it is better for her not to vow, than to vow and not to pay. ^Tt 

But if any younger woman, who hath lived only a little while with 
her husband, and hath lost him by death, or some other occasion, 
remain by herself, having the gift of widowhood, she will be found 
to be blessed, and to be like the widow of Serepta, belonging to 
Sidon, with whom the holy prophet of God, Elijah, was entertained 
as a guest. Such a one may also be compared to Anna, {Ifl?! 
the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser, who departed not 
from the temple, but continued in supplications and prayers, night 
and day ; who was fourscore years old, and had lived with a hus- 
band seven years from her virginity ; who glorified the coming of 
Christ, and gave thanks to the Lord, and spake concerning him to 
all those who looked for redemption in Israel. Such a widow will 
have a good report, and will be honored, having both glory with men 
upon earth, and eternal praise with God in heaven. 



II. 

That we must avoid the choice of younger ividows, because of sus- 
picion. 

But let not the younger widows be placed in the order of widows, 
lest, under pretence of inability to be continent in the flower of their 
age, they accede to a second marriage, and become embarrassed. 
But let them be assisted and supported, that so they may not, under 
pretence of being deserted, come to a second marriage, and so be 
ensnared in an unseemly embarrassment. For ye ought to know 
this, that once marrying according to the law, is righteous, as being 
according to the will of God ; but second marriages, after the 
promise, are wicked ; not on account of the marriage itself, but be- 
cause of the falsehood. Third marriages are indications of inconti. 
nency. But such marriages as are beyond the third, are manifest 
fornication and unquestionable uncleanness. For God, in the crea- 
tion, gave one woman to one man ; for they two shall be one {^L 
flesh. 



80 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK III. 

But to the younger women let a second marriage be allowed, after 
the death of their first husband, lest they fall into the condemnation 
of the devil, and many snares, and foolish lusts, which are hurtful to 
souls, and which bring upon them punishment rather than rest. 



III. 

Of ivhat character the widows ought to he, and how they ought to be 
supported by the Bishop. 

But the true widows are those who have had only one husband, 
having a good report among the generality for good works ; ividows 
indeed, sober, chaste, faithful, pious, who have brought up their 
children well, and have entertained strangers unblamably ; who are 
to be supported, as devoted to God. 

Besides, do thou, Bishop, be mindful of the needy, both reach- 
ing out thy helping hand, and making provision for them, as the 
steward of God, distributing seasonably the oblations to every one of 
them, to the widows, the orphans, the friendless, and those who are 
tried with affliction. 



IV. 

That we ought to be charitable to all sorts of persons in ivant. 

For what if some are neither widows nor widowers, but stand in 
need of assistance, either through poverty, or some disease, or the 
maintenance of a great number of children ? It is thy duty to 
oversee all people, and to take care of them all. For they that 
bestow gifts do not immediately, and without the use of discretion, 
give them to the widows, but barely bring them in, calling them 
free-will offerings, that so thou, who knowest those that are in afflic- 
tion, mayest, as a good steward, give them their portion of the gift. 
For God knoweth the giver, though thou distributest it to those in 
want, when he is absent. And he hath the reward of well-doing, 
but thou the blessedness of a just distribution of it. But do thou 
tell them who was the giver, that they may pray for him by name. 
For it is our duty to do good to all men, not fondly preferring one 



Prov. 
15: 27. 
Psalm 
40: 2. 



BOOK III.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 81 

or another, whoever they may be. For the Lord saith, Give {^\%: 
to every one that asketh thee. It is evident that it is meant of every 
one that is really in want, whether he be friend or foe, whether he 
be a kinsman or a stranger, whether he be single or married. 

For in all the Scripture the Lord giveth us exhortations in respect 
to the needy, saying, first by Isaiah, Deal thy bread to the {^J 1 * 1 ?' 
hungry , and bring the poor who have no covering into thy house. If 
thou seest the naked, do thou cover him; and thou shalt not overlook 
those ivho are of thine own family and seed. And then by Daniel 
he saith to the potentate. Wherefore, king, let my coun- {^i. 
sel please thee, and purge thy sins by acts of mercy, and thine ini- 
quities by bowels of compassion to the needy. And he saith by Sol- 
omon, By acts of mercy and of faith, iniquities are purged. { 
And he saith again by David, Blessed is he that hath re- { 
gard to the poor and needy ; the Lord shall deliver him in the evil 
day. And again, Hehath dispersed abroad ; he hath given {n\ff; 
to the needy ; his righteousness remaineth for ever. And Solomon 
saith, He that hath mercy on the poor lendeth to the Lord; {\™{j. 
according to his gift it shall be paid him again. And afterwards, 
Re that stoppeth his ear, that he may not hear him that is {^Tvi 
in want, he also himself shall call, and there shall be none to hear 
him. 



V. 

That the widows are to be very careful of their deportment. 

Let every widow be meek, quiet, gentle, sincere, free from anger ; 
not talkative, not clamorous, not hasty of speech, not given to evil- 
speaking, not captious, not double-tongued, not a busy-body. If she 
see or hear any thing that is not right, let her be as one that doth 
not see, and as one that doth not hear ; and let the widow mind 
nothing but to pray for those that give, and for the whole church ; 
and when she is asked any thing by any one, let her not easily an- 
swer, except questions concerning faith, and righteousness, and 
hope in God ; remitting to the rulers those that desire to be in- 
structed in the doctrines of godliness. Let her answer only so as 
may tend to subvert the error of polytheism, and demonstrate the 
doctrine concerning the monarchy of God. But of the remaining 
6 



82 CONSTITUTIONS OP [BOOK III. 

doctrines, let her not answer any thing rashly, lest, by saying any 
thing unlearnedly, she should cause the Word to be blasphemed. 

For the Lord hath taught us, that the Word is like a grain of 
\lfk\ mustard seed, which is of a fiery nature ; and, if any one 
useth it unskilfully, he will find it bitter. For in the mystical points we 
ought not to be rash, but cautious. For the Lord exhorteth us, say- 
^f"; } ing, Cast not your pearls before swine, lest they trample them 
with their feet, and turn again and rend you. For unbelievers, 
when they hear the doctrine concerning Christ not explained as it 
ought to be, but defectively, and especially that concerning his in- 
carnation or his passion, will rather reject it with scorn, and laugh 
at it as false, than praise God for it. And so the aged women will 
be guilty of rashness, and of causing blasphemy, and will inherit a 
"sfhM woe. For, saith he, Woe to him by whom my name is blas- 
phemed among the G entiles. 



VI. 

That women ought not to teach, because it is unseemly ; and what 
women followed our Lord. 

\S. 34.} We do not permit our women to teach in the church,.hu.t 
only to pray, and to hear those that teach. For our Master and Lord, 
Jesus Christ himself, when he sent us, the twelve, to make disciples 
of the people and of the nations, did nowhere send out women to 
preach, although he did not want such ; for there were with us the 
mother of our Lord, and his sisters ; also Mary Magdalen ; and Mary, 
the mother of James ; and Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus ; 
Salome, and certain others. For, had it been necessary for women 
to teach, he himself would have first commanded these also to instruct 
\i-°l'.} the people with us. For, if the head of the wife be the man, it 
is not reasonable that the rest of the body should govern the head. 

Let the widow, therefore, own herself to be the altar of God, 
and let her sit in her house, and not enter into the houses of the 
faithful, under any pretence, to receive any thing ; for the altar of 
God never runneth about, but is fixed in one place. Let, therefore, 
the virgin and the widow be such as do not run about, or gad to the 
houses of those who are alien from the faith. For such as these are 



BOOK III.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 83 

gadders and impudent ; they do not make their feet to rest in one 
place, because they are not widows, but purses ready to receive, 
trhiers, evil speakers, counsellors of strife, without shame, impudent ; 
who, being such, are not worthy of him that called them. For they 
do not come to the common resting place of the congregation on the 
Lord's day, as those that are watchful. But they either slumber, 
or trifle, or allure men, or beg, or ensnare others, bringing them to 
the evil one ; not suffering them to be watchful in the Lord ; but 
taking care that they go out as vain as they came in, because they 
do not hear the Word of the Lord either taught or read. For of 
such as these the prophet Isaiah saith, Hearing ye shall hear, \ I g fc jJ« 
and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive ; 
for the heart of this people is ivaxen gross. 



VII. 

What are the characters of ividows, falsely so called. 

In the same manner, therefore, the ears of the hearts of such 
widows as these are stopped, so that they will not sit within in their 
cottages to speak to the Lord, but will run about with the design of 
getting, and, by their foolish prattling, fulfil the desires of the 
adversary. Such widows, therefore, are not affixed to the altar of 
Christ. 

For there are some widows who esteem gain their business ; and, 
since they ask without shame, and receive without being satisfied, 
they render the generality more backward in giving. For when 
they ought to be content with their subsistence from the church, as 
having moderate desires ; on the contrary, they run from the house 
of one of their neighbors to that of another, and disturb them, heap- 
ing up to themselves plenty of money, and lend at bitter usury ; 
and are solicitous only about Mammon, whose bag is their god : 
who prefer eating and drinking before all virtue, saying, Let {Hful 
us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die ; who esteem these {u?°£k 
things as if they were durable, and not transitory. For she that 
useth herself to nothing but talking of money, worshippeth Mammon 
instead of God ; that is, she is a servant to gain, but cannot be 
pleasing to God, nor resigned to his worship ; not being able to in- 



84 CONSTITUTIONS OP [BOOK III. 

tercede with him, because her mind and disposition run after money ; 
JJ a 2i;} for where the treasure is, there will the heart be also. For 
she is thinking in her mind whither she may go to receive, or that 
a certain woman, her friend, hath forgotten her, and she hath some- 
what to say to her. She that thinketh of such things as these will 
no longer attend to her prayers, but to that thought which offereth 
itself; so that, although sometimes she may wish to pray for some 
one, she will not be heard, because she doth not offer her petition to 
the Lord with the whole heart. 

But she that will attend to God will sit within, and mind the 
things of the Lord, day and night, offering her sincere petition with 
a mouth ready to utter the same without ceasing. As, therefore, 
Judith, most famous for her wisdom, and of a good report for her 
/iffik } modesty, prayed to God night and day for Israel ; so 
also the widow who is like her, will offer her intercession, without 
ceasing, for the church of God ; and he will hear her, because her 
mind is fixed on this thing alone, and is disposed to be neither insa- 
tiable nor expensive ; when her eye is pure, and her hearing clean, 
and her hands undefiled, and her feet quiet, and her mouth prepared 
for neither gluttony nor trifling, but speaking the things that are fit, 
and partaking of only such things as are necessary for her mainten- 
ance. So being grave, and giving no disturbance, she will be pleas- 
ing to God ; and, as soon as she asketh any thing, the gift will anti- 
^fff'} cipate her ; as he saith, While thou art speaking, I ivill 
say, Behold I am here. Let such a one also be free from the love 
of money, free from arrogance, not given to filthy lucre, not insa- 
tiable nor gluttonous ; but continent, meek, giving nobody disturb- 
ance, pious, modest, sitting at home, singing, and praying, and read- 
ing, and watching, and fasting ; speaking to God continually in 
songs and hymns. And let her take wool, and assist others, rather 
than herself be in need of any thing ; being mindful of that widow 
who is honored with the Lord's testimony, who, coming into the tem- 
ple, cast into the treasury tivo mites, which make a farthing. And 
Christ our Lord and Master, and Searcher of hearts, saw her, and 
Luke/fi: 4 ^} said, Verily I say unto you, that this ividow hath cast 
into the treasury more than they all. For all they have cast in of 
their abundance; but this ivoman of her penury hath cast in all the 
living that she had. 

The widows, therefore, ought to be grave, obedient to their Bish- 



BOOK III.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 85 

ops, and their Presbyters, and their Deacons, and besides these to 
the Deaconesses, with piety, reverence, and fear ; not usurping 
authority, nor desiring to do any thing beyond the constitution, 
without the consent of the Deacon ; as suppose the going to any one 
to eat or drink with him, or to receive any thing from any body ; 
but, if without direction she do any one of these things, let her be 
punished with fasting, or else let her be separated on account of her 
rashness. 



VIII. 

That a widow ought notjto accept of alms from the unworthy ; nor 
ought a Bishop, nor any other of the faithful. f f 

For how doth such a one know of what character the person is 
from whom she receiveth ; or from what sort of ministration he sup- 
plieth her with food, — - whether it doth not arise from rapine, or some 
other ill course of life ? while the widow is unmindful, that, if she 
receive in a way unworthy of God, she must give an account for 
every one of these things. For neither will the priests at any time 
receive a free-will offering from such a one, as suppose from a rapa- 
cious person, or from a harlot. For it is written, Thou { 2 ofi7.' 
%halt not covet those things that are thy neighbor's ; and, Thou 
shalt not offer the hire of a harlot to the Lord God. From 



Lev. 
23: 18. 



such as these no offerings ought to be accepted, nor indeed from 
those that are separated from the church. 

Let the widows also be ready to obey the commands given them 
by their superiors, and let them do according to the appointment of 
the Bishop, being obedient to him as to God. For he that receiveth 
from one so deserving of blame, or from one excommunicated, 
and prayeth for him while he purposeth to go on in a wicked 
course, and while he is not willing at any time to repent, holdeth 
communion with him in prayer, and grieveth Christ, who rejecteth 
the unrighteous ; and he confirmeth them by means of the unworthy 
gift, and is defiled with them, not suffering them to come to repent- 
ance, so as to fall down before God with lamentation, and pray to 
him. 



86 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK III. 



IX. 

That women ought not to baptize; because it is impious, and con- 
trary to the doctrine of Christ. 

Now as to women's baptizing, we let you know, that there is no 
small peril to those that undertake it. Therefore we do not advise 
you to do it ; for it is dangerous, or, rather, wicked and impious. 
i£°I: } For if the man be the head of the woman, and he be origin- 
ally ordained for the priesthood, it is not just to abrogate the order 
of the creation, and, leaving the ruler, to come to the subor- 
dinate body. For the woman is the body of the man, taken from 
his side, and subject to him, from whom also she was separated for 
Sfe'.l tne procreation of children. For the Scripture saith, Re 
shall rule over thee. For the man is ruler of the woman, as being 
her head. But if in the foregoing Constitutions we have not 
permitted them to teach, how will any one allow them, contrary to 
nature, to perform the office of a priest ? For this is one of the 
ignorant practices of the Gentile atheism, to ordain women priests 
to the female deities ; not one of the constitutions of Christ. 

But, if baptism were to be administered by women, certainly our 
Lord would have been baptized by his own mother, and not- by 
John ; or, when he sent us to baptize, he would have sent along 
with us women also for this purpose. But now he hath nowhere, 
either by constitution or by writing, delivered to us any such thing ; 
as knowing the order of nature and the decency of the action ; as 
being the Creator of nature, and the Legislator of the constitution. 



That a Layman ought not to perform a priestly work, — baptism, or 
sacrifice, or laying on of hands, or blessing. 

Nor do we permit the laity to perform any of the offices belonging 
to the priesthood ; as, for instance, neither the sacrifice, nor bap- 
tism, nor the laying on of hands, nor the blessing, whether the 
} smaller or the greater. For no one taketh this honor to 



Hob. 
b: 4. 



BOOK III.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 87 

himself, but he that is called of God. For such sacred offices are 
conferred by the laying on of the hands of the Bishop. But a 
person to whom such an office is not committed, but who seizeth 
upon it for himself, shall undergo the punishment of Uzziah. { 2C 2 h 6 ron ' 



XI. 

That none but a Bishop or a Presbyter, none even of the inferior 
ranks of the clergy, are permitted to do the offices of the Priests ; 
that ordination belongeth wholly to the Bishop, and to no other 
person. * 

Nay farther, we do not permit to the rest of the clergy to bap- 
tize ; as, for instance, either to Readers, or Singers, or Porters, 
or Ministers, but only to the Bishops and Presbyters ; yet so that 
the Deacons are to minister to them therein. But those who venture 
upon it shall undergo the punishment of the companions of { 3 5F 1, 
Corah. We do not permit Presbyters, but only Bishops, to ordain 
Deacons, or Deaconesses, or Readers, or Servants, or Singers, or 
Porters. For this is the ecclesiastical order and harmony. 



XII. 

The rejection of all uncharitable actions. 

Now concerning envy, or passion, or evil speaking, or strife, or 
the love of contention, we have already said to you, that these are 
alien from a Christian, and chiefly in the case of widows. But 
because the devil, who worketh in men, is in his conduct cunning, 
and full of various devices, he goeth to those that are not truly 
widows, as formerly to Cain ; for some say they are widows, but do 
not perform the injunctions agreeable to the widowhood ; as neither 
did Cain discharge the duties due to a brother. For they do not 
consider that it is not the name of widowhood that will bring them 
to the kingdom of God, but true faith and holy works. 

But if any one possesseth the name of widowhood, but performeth 
the works of the adversary, her widowhood will not be imputed ; 



88 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK III. 

but she will be thrust out of the kingdom, and delivered to eternal 
punishment. For we hear that some widows are jealous, envious, 
calumniators, cavilling at the comforts of others. Such widows as 
these are not the disciples of Christ, nor of his doctrine. For it 
becometh them, when one of their fellow-widows is clothed by anj 
one, or receiveth money, or food, or drink, or shoes, at the sight of 
the refreshment of their sister, to say, — 



XIII. 

Hoiv the widows are to pray for those who supply their necessities. 

Thou art blessed, God, who hast refreshed my fellow-widow. 
Bless, Lord, and glorify him who hath bestowed these things 
upon her ; and let his good work ascend in truth to thee ; and 
remember him for good in the day of his visitation. And as for 
my Bishop, who hath so well performed his duty to thee, and hath 
ordered such a reasonable alms to be bestowed on my fellow-widow, 
in need of clothing, do thou increase his glory, and give him a 
crown of rejoicing in the day when thy visitation shall be revealed. 

In the same manner, let the widow who hath received the favor 
join with the other in praying for him who bestowed it. 



XIV. 

That she who hath been kind to the poor ought not to boast, and tell 
abroad her name, according to the constitution of the Lord. 

But if any woman hath done a kindness, let her, as a prudent 
person, conceal her own name, not sounding a trumpet before her, 
that her alms may be with God in secret, as the Lord saith, 
*&*2. } When thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know 
what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret. And let 
the widow pray for him that gave her the alms, whosoever he be, as 
she is the holy altar of Christ ; and the Father, who seeth in secret, 
will reward openly him that did good. 

But those widows who will not live according to the command of 



BOOK III.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 89 

God, are solicitous and inquisitive what Deaconess it is that hath 
administered the charity, and what widows have received it. 
And when such a one hath learned those things, she murmureth at 
the Deaconess who distributed the charity, saying, Dost not thou see 
that I am in more distress and in greater want of thy charity ? Why, 
therefore, hast thou preferred her before me ? She saith these 
things foolishly, not understanding that this doth not depend on the 
will of man, but on the appointment of God. For if she is herself a 
witness that she was nearer, and proved herself in greater want and 
more in need of clothing, than the other, she ought to understand 
who it is that made this constitution, and to hold her peace, and not 
to murmur at the Deaconess who distributed the charity, but to 
enter into her own house, and to cast herself prostrate on her face, 
to make supplication to God that her sin may be forgiven her. 
For God commanded her who did the kindness not to proclaim it ; 
and this widow murmured, because proclamation was not made, so 
that she might know, and run to receive; nay, did not only 
murmur, but also cursed her, forgetting him that said, He {27^27. 
that blesseih thee is blessed, and he that curseth thee is cursed. But 
the Lord saith, When ye enter into a house, say, Peace be to { ijfS: 
this house ; and if the son of 'peace be there, your peace {xof "3. 
shall rest upon it. But if it be not worthy, your peace shall return 
to you. 



XV. 

That it doth not become us to revile our neighbors, because cursing is 
contrary to Christianity. 

If, therefore, peace returneth upon those that sent it, nay, upon 
those that before had actually given it, because it did not find 
persons fit to receive it, much rather will a curse return upon the 
head of him that unjustly sent it, because he to whom it was sent 
was not worthy to receive it. For all those who abuse others 
without cause, curse themselves ; as Solomon saith, As {g ^- 
birds and sparrows fly away, so the curse causeless shall not come 
upon any one. And again he saith, Those that bring {i™]i 
reproaches are exceeding foolish. But as the bee, a creature as to 
its strength feeble, if she stingeth any one, loseth her sting, and 



90 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK III. 

becometh a drone ; in the same manner, ye also, whatsoever injustice 
7f a iV.'} J Q d° to others, will bring it upon yourselves. He hath 
excavated and digged a pit ; and he shall fall into the ditch that he 
26?27.} "hath made. And again, He that diggeth a pit for his 
neighbor shall fall into it. Let him, therefore, who would avoid a 
E°ii } curse, not curse another. For ivhat thou hatest should be 
done to thee, do not thou to another. 

Wherefore admonish the widows that are feeble-minded, strengthen 
those of them that are weak, and praise such of them as walk in 
holiness. Let them rather bless, and not calumniate. Let them 
make peace, and not stir up contention. Nor let a Bishop, nor a 
Presbyter, nor a Deacon, nor any one else of the sacerdotal cata- 
logue, defile his tongue with calumny, lest he inherit a curse instead 
of a blessing. And let it also be the Bishop's business and care, 
that no lay person utter a curse . For he ought to take care of the 
Clergy, of the Virgins, of the Widows, of the Laity. 

For which reason, Bishop, do thou ordain thy fellow-workers, 
the laborers for life and for righteousness, — such Deacons as are 
pleasing to God, such as thou provest to be worthy among all the 
people, and such as shall be ready for the necessities of their minis- 
tration. Ordain also a Deaconess, who is faithful and holy, for the 
ministrations to the women. For sometimes thou canst not send a 
Deacon, who is a man, to the women in certain houses, on account 
of the unbelievers. Thou shalt therefore send a woman, a Deacon- 
ess, on account of the imaginations of the bad. 

And we stand in need of a woman, a Deaconess, for many occa- 
sions ; and first in the baptism of women, the Deacon shall anoint 
their forehead with the holy oil, and after him the Deaconess shall 
anoint them. For there is no necessity that the women should 
be seen by the men ; but only, in the laying on of hands, the 
Bishop shall anoint her head, as the priests and kings were formerly 
anointed, not because those who are now baptized are ordained 
priests, but as being Christians, or anointed, from Christ the 
\f$'} Anointed; a royal priesthood and a holy nation; the 
W15'.} church of Qod, the pillar and ground of the present light ; 
who formerly were not a people, but now are beloved and chosen ; 
upon whom is called his new name, as Isaiah the prophet testifieth, 
IS G a 2 ' : al 2:} And they shall call the people by his new name, ivhich the 
Lord shall name for them. 



BOOK III.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 91 

XVI. 

Concerning the divine Initiation of holy Baptism. 

Thou, therefore, Bishop, according to that type, shalt anoint 
the head of those that are to be baptized, whether they be men or 
women, with the holy oil, for a type of the spiritual baptism. Then, 
either thou, Bishop, or a Presbyter that is under thee, shall pro- 
nounce over them the sacred name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit, and shall dip them in the water ; and let a 
Deacon receive the man, and a Deaconess the woman, that so the 
conferring of this inviolable seal may be done with a becoming 
decency. And, after this, let the Bishop anoint those that are 
baptized with ointment. 

XVII. 

What is the meaning of Baptism into Christ; and on ivhat account 
every thing therein is said and done. 

This baptism, therefore, is given into the death of Jesus. The 
water is instead of the burial ; and the oil, instead of the Holy 
Ghost ; the seal, instead of the cross ; the ointment, the confirmation 
of the confession ; the mention of the Father, as of the author and 
sender ; the joint mention of the Holy Ghost, as of the witness ; 
the descent into the water, the dying together with Christ; the 
ascent out of the water, the rising again with him. The Father is 
the God over all ; Christ is the only-begotten God, the beloved 
Son, the Lord of glory ; the Holy Ghost is the Comforter, who is 
sent by Christ, and is taught by him, and proclaimeth him. 



XVIII. 

Of what character he ought to be who is Initiated. 

And let him who is to be baptized be free from all iniquity, one 
that is not disposed to sin ; the friend of God, the enemy of the 



92 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK III. 

devil ; the heir of God the Father, the fellow-heir of his Son ; one 
that hath renounced Satan, and the demons, and Satan's deceits ; 
chaste, pure, holy, beloved of God, a son of God, praying as a son 
to his Father, and saying, as from the common congregation of the 
faithful, thus : Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name ; 
thy kingdom come ; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. 
Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we 
forgive our debtors ; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us 
from the evil one. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and 
the glory for ever. Amen. 



XIX. 

Of what character a Deacon ought to be. 

Let the Deacons be in all things unspotted, as the Bishop himself 
is to be, only more active ; in number according to the largeness of 
the church, that they may minister to the infirm, as workmen that 
are not ashamed ; and let the woman appointed be diligent in taking 
care of the women. Moreover, let both the Deacons and the 
Deaconesses be ready to carry messages, to travel about, to minis- 
ter and serve ; as spake Isaiah concerning the Lord, saying, To 
Jlfnl} justify the righteous, ivho serveth many faithfully . 

Let all, therefore, know their proper place, and perform their 
duty diligently with one consent, with one mind, as knowing the 
reward of their ministration. But let them not be ashamed to 
minister to those that are in want ; as even our Lord Jesus Christ 
2o?28.} came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give 
his life a ransom for many. So therefore ought they also to do, 
and not to hesitate, if it should be needful to lay down their life for 
a brother. For our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ did not hesitate 
Joh i5: 1 u. u '} to lay down his life, as himself saith, for his friends. 
If, therefore, the Lord of heaven and earth underwent all his 
sufferings for us, how then do ye make a difficulty to minister to 
such as are in want ; — ye who ought to imitate him that under- 
went for us servitude, and want, and stripes, and the cross ? It is 
therefore a duty that we, too, serve the brethren, in imitation of 
20*26.} Christ. For he saith, He that will be great among you, let 
him be your minister ; and he that ivill be first among you, let him 



BOOK III.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 93 

be your servant. For so did he really, and not in word only, fulfil 
the prediction of serving many faithfully. For when he {Hffi. 
had taken a towel, he girded himself. After that, he pour- {3?2. 
eth water into a basin ; and, as we were sitting at meat, he came 
and washed the feet of us all, and wiped them with the towel. By 
doing this he indicated to us the affectionateness of brotherly love^ 
that we also might do the same to one another. 

If, therefore, our Lord and Master so humbled himself, how can 
ye, the laborers of the truth and administrators of piety, be ashamed 
to do the same to such of the brethren as are weak and infirm ? 
Minister, therefore, affectionately, not murmuring nor mutinying ; 
for ye do not do it on account of man, but on account of God ; 
and ye shall receive from him the reward of your ministry in 
the day of your visitation. Ye, therefore, who are Deacons, ought 
to visit all those who stand in need of being visited. And tell your 
Bishop of all those that are in affliction. For ye ought to be his 
soul and sensation ; being active and attentive in all things to him, 
as to your Bishop, and father, and master. 



XX. 

That a Bishop ought to be ordained by three or by two Bishops, but 
not by one ; for that would be invalid. *$■ 

We command that a Bishop be ordained by three Bishops, or at 
least by two : but it is not lawful that he be set over you by one ; 
for the testimony of two or three witnesses is more firm and secure. 

But a Presbyter, and a Deacon, and the rest of the clergy, are 
to be ordained by one Bishop. Nor must either a Presbyter or a 
Deacon ordain from the laity into the clergy. But the Presbyter is 
only to teach, to offer, to baptize, and to bless the people ; and the 
Deacon is to minister to the Bishop and to the Presbyters, that is, 
to do the office of a ministering Deacon, and not to meddle with the 
other offices. 



94 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK IV. 



BOOK IV. 

CONCERNING: ORPHANS. 

CHAPTER I. 

That it is highly commendable to receive orphans kindly, and adopt 

them. 

When any Christian is left an orphan, whether a boy or a girl, it 
is good that some one of the brethren, who is without a child, should 
take the lad, and esteem him in the place of a son ; and that he who 
hath a son of an age corresponding with that of the maid, should 
connect her with him, when she is marriageable. For they who do 
so, perform a great work, and become fathers to the orphans, and 
shall receive the reward of this charity from the Lord God. 

But if any one that walketh in the way of man-pleasing, being 
rich, is ashamed of the orphan members, the Father of orphans and 
Judge of widows will make provision for the orphan ; but himself 
shall have such an heir as will spend what was laid up oj his parsi- 
mony. And it shall happen to him according as it is said, What 
things the holy people have not eaten, those shall the Assyrians eat. 
i^aiah, j As also Isaiah saith, Your land — strangers devour it in 
your presence, 

IL 

How the Bishop ought to provide for the orphans. 

Do ye, therefore, Bishops, be solicitous about their mainten- 
ance, being in nothing wanting to them ; exhibiting to the orphans 
the care of parents, and to widows the care of husbands ; to those 
of suitable age, marriage ; to the artificer, work ; to the unable, 
commiseration ; to the strangers, a house ; to the hungry, food ; to 
the thirsty, drink ; to the naked, clothing ; to the sick, visitation ; 
to the prisoners, assistance. Besides these, have a greater care of 



BOOK IV.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 95 

the orphans, that nothing may be wanting to them ; to the maid, 
indeed, till she arrive at the age of marriage, and ye give her in 
marriage to a brother ; and assist ye the lad, that he may learn a 
trade, and may be maintained by the advantage arising from it, 
that, when he is dexterous in its management, he may thereby be 
enabled to buy himself the tools of his trade, so that he may no lon- 
ger burden any of the brethren, or their sincere love to him, but 
may support himself. For, certainly, he is a happy man who is able 
to support himself, and doth not take up the place of the orphan, 
the stranger, and the widow ; — 



III. 

Who ought to be supported, according to the Lord's Constitution. 

Since even the Lord said, that the giver is happier than {^fU. 
the receiver. For it is again said by him, Woe to those that have, 
and receive in hypocrisy, or who are able to support themselves, yet 
will receive of others ; for both of them shall give an account to the 
Lord Cfod in the day of judgment. But an orphan, who, by reason 
of his youth, or he who by the feebleness of old age, or the incidence 
of a disease, or the bringing up of many children, receiveth alms, 
such a one shall not only not be blamed, but shall be commended. 
For he shall be esteemed an altar to God, and be honored by God, 
since he is zealously and constantly praying for those that give to 
him ; not receiving idly, but to the utmost of his power recompensing 
by his prayer what is bestowed upon him. Such a one, therefore, 
shall be blessed by God in eternal life. But he that hath, and 
receiveth in hypocrisy or through idleness, instead of working, and 
assisting others, shall be obnoxious to punishment before God, be- 
cause he hath snatched away the morsel of the needy. 



IV. 

Concerning the love of money. 

For he that hath money, and doth not bestow it upon others, nor 
use it himself, is like the serpent, which, they say, sleepeth over 



96 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK IV. 

the treasures ; and of him is that Scripture true which saith, He 
20:°i8. } hath gathered riches of which he shall not taste ; and the y 
will be of no use to him when he perisheth justly. For it saith, 
n?l'.} Riches will not profit in the day of wrath. For such a one 
hath not believed in God, but in his own gold ; esteeming that his 
god, and trusting therein. Such a one is a dissembler of the truth, 
an accepter of persons, unfaithful, cheating, fearful, unmanly, light, 
of no value, a complainer, ever in pain, his own enemy, and nobody's 
friend. Such a person's money shall perish, and a man that is a 
stranger shall consume it, either by theft, while he is alive, or by 
20:°i5.} inheritance, when he is dead. For riches unjustly gotten 
shall be vomited up. 



v. 

With what fear men ought to partake of the Lord's oblations. 

We exhort, therefore, the widows and orphans to partake of those 
things that are bestowed upon them, with all fear and all pious rever- 
ence, and to return thanks to God, who giveth food to the needy, and 
i 9 25. } lift U P their eyes to him. For the Scripture saith, Which of 
ulfw.} y ou s h a tt eai i or w ^° s h a tt drink without himf For he 
openeth his hand, and filleth every living thing with his Jcindness ; 
9*17.* } giving wheat to the young men, and wine to the maidens, 
id*i™ib.\ an d oil for the joy of the living, grass for the cattle, and 
green herb for the service of men, flesh for the wild beasts, seeds 
for the birds, and suitable food for all creatures. Wherefore the 
^. a 26 } Lord saith, Consider thefoivls of heaven, that they sow not, 
neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and your Father feedeth 
them. Are ye not much better than they ? Be not therefore solicit- 
ous, saying, What shall we eat? or what shall we drink? For 
your Father hnoweth that ye have need of all these things. 

Since ye therefore enjoy such a providential care from him, and 
are partakers of the good things that are derived from him, ye 
ought to return praise to Him that receiveth the orphan and the 
widow, — to Almighty God, through his beloved Son, Jesus Christ 
our Lord ; through whom glory be to God in spirit and truth, for 
ever. Amen. 



BOOK IV.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 97 

VI. 

Whose oblations are to be received, and whose are not to be received. 

Now it behooveth the Bishop to know whose oblations he ought to 
receive, and whose he ought not. For he is to avoid corrupt deal- 
ers, and not receive their gifts. For a corrupt dealer shall {^fw; 
not be justified from sin. For of them it was that Isaiah reproached 
Israel, and said, Thy corrupt dealers mingle wine with wa- { r i s : ai 22 1 .' 
ter. He is also to avoid fornicators ; for, Thou shalt not offer the 
hire of a harlot to the Lord. He is also to avoid extortioners, and 
those that covet other men's goods, and adulterers ; for the sacri- 
fices of such as these are abominable with God : also those that 
oppress the widow, and overbear the orphan, and fill prisons with 
the innocent, and abuse their own servants wickedly, I mean with 
stripes, and hunger, and hard service ; nay, destroy whole cities. 
Do thou, Bishop, avoid such as these, and their odious oblations. 
Thou shalt also refuse rogues, and such advocates as plead on the 
side of injustice, and idol-makers, and thieves, and unjust publicans, 
and those that deceive by false balances and deceitful measures, and 
a soldier that is a false accuser, and not content with his wages, but 
doeth violence to the needy; a murderer, an executioner, and an 
unjust judge, a subverter of causes, him that lieth in wait for men, 
a worker of abominable wickedness, a drunkard, a blasphemer, a 
Sodomite, an usurer, and every one that is vicious and opposeth 
the will of God. For the Scripture saith that with God all such as 
these are abominable. Those that receive from such persons, and 
thereby support the widows and the orphans, shall be obnoxious to 
the tribunal of God; as Adonias the prophet, in the book { 3I i3. gs ' 
of Kings, when he disobeyed God, and both ate bread and drank 
water in the place which the Lord had forbidden him, because of the 
wickedness of Jeroboam, was slain by a lion. 

For the bread which is distributed to the widows from labor is 
better, though it be short and little, than that from injustice and 
false accusation, though it be much and fine. For the Scripture 
saith, Better is a little to the righteous, than great riches of {^l™ 
the sinners. Now, although a widow who eateth and is filled from 
the wicked, pray for them, she shall not be heard ; for God, who 
7 



98 CONSTITUTIONS OP [BOOK IV. 

knoweth the heart, with judgment hath declared concerning the 
lifi.} unrighteous, saying, If Moses and Samuel stand before my 
7: 16. \ face in their behalf, I will not hear them. And, Pray thou 
not for this people, and do not ash mercy for them, and do not inter- 
cede with me for them ; for I will not hear thee. 



VII. 

That the oblations of the unworthy, while they are such, do not only 
not propitiate Grod, but, on the contrary, provoke him to indigna- 
tion. 

And not these only, but those that are in sin, and have not re- 
pented, will not only not be heard when they pray, but will provoke 
God to anger, as putting him in mind of their own wickedness. 
Avoid, therefore, such ministrations, as you would the price of a 
23?i8!} dog, an( ^ * ne n ^ re °f a harlot ; for both of them are forbidden 
4 Kings, | j^ ft^ laws. For neither did Elisha receive the presents 
3 Kings, £ w hi c h we re brought by Hazael, nor Ahijah those from Jero- 
boam. If now the prophets of God did not admit of presents from 
the ungodly, it is reasonable, Bishops, that neither should you. 
Nay, when Simon the magician offered money to me, Peter, and 
John, and endeavored to obtain the invaluable grace by purchase, 
we did not admit it, but bound him with everlasting maledictions, 
because he thought to possess the gift of God, not by a pious mind 
towards God, but by the price of money. 

Avoid, therefore, such oblations to God's altar as are not from a 
Stfu!? g°°d- conscience. For saith he, Abstain from all injustice, 
and thou shalt not fear, and trembling shall not come nigh thee. 



BOOK IV.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 99 



VIII. 

That it is better to present to the widows from our own labors, 
though it be inconsiderable and few contributions, than to present 
those which are many and large, received from the ungodly. Far 
it is better to perish by famine than to receive an oblation from 
the ungodly. 

But if ye say that those who give alms are such as these, and if 
we do not receive from them, whence shall we administer to the 
widows ? and whence shall the poor among the people be main- 
tained ? Ye shall hear from us that for this purpose ye have 
received the gift of the Levites, the oblations of your people, that ye 
might have enough for yourselves, and for those that are in want, 
and that ye might not be so straitened as to receive from the wicked. 
But if the churches be so straitened, it is better to perish, than to 
receive any thing from the enemies of God, to the reproach and 
abuse of his friends. For of such as these the prophet speaketh, 
Let not the oil of a sinner moisten my head. {uo? 1 ™. 

Be ye therefore examiners of such persons, and receive from 
such as walk piously, and supply the afflicted. But receive not 
from those that are excommunicated, until they are thought worthy 
to become members of the church ; but, if a gift be wanting, inform 
the brethren, and make a collection from them ; and thence minister 
to the orphans and widows in righteousness. 



IX. 

That the people ought to be exhorted by the Priest to do good to the 
needy, as saith Solomon the Wise. 

Say unto the people under thee what Solomon the Wise saith, 
Honor the Lord out of thy just labors, and pay thy first- { ^J; 
fruits to him out of thy fruits of righteousness, that thy garners may 
be filled with fulness of wheat, and thy presses may burst out with 
ivine. Therefore maintain and clothe those that are in want, from 
the righteous labor of the faithful. And the sums of money 



100 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK IV. 

collected, as we have before said, from them, appoint to be laid out 
in the redemption of the saints, the deliverance of slaves, and of 
captives, and of prisoners, and of those that have been abused, and 
of those who by tyrants have been condemned to single combat and 
I£°Ii.} to death. For the Scripture saith, Deliver those that are led 
to death, and redeem those that are ready to be slain ; do not spare. 



X. 

A Constitution, that if any one of the ungodly by force will cast 
money to the Priests, they spend it in ivood and coals, but not 
in food. 

But if at any time ye be forced unwillingly to receive money from 
any ungodly person, lay it out in wood and coals, that so neither 
the widow nor the orphan may receive any of it, or be under the 
necessity of buying with it either food or drink, which it is unfit to 
do. For it is reasonable that such gifts of the ungodly be fuel for 
fire, and not food for the pious. And this method is plainly 
appointed by the Law, when it calleth a sacrifice kept too long a 
thing not fit to be eaten, and commandeth it to be consumed with 
fire. For such oblations are not evil in their nature, but on account 
of the mind of those that bring them. And this we ordain, that we 
may not repel those who come to us ; for we know that intercourse 
with the pious hath often been very profitable to the ungodly, but 
that only religious communion with them is hurtful. Let so much, 
therefore, be spoken to you, beloved, in order to your security. 



XI. 

Of Parents and Children. 

Ye fathers, educate your children in the Lord, bringing them up 
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ; and teach them such 
trades as are agreeable and suitable to the Word, lest they, becom- 
ing extravagant through opportunity, and remaining without cor- 
rection from their parents, having had their liberty prematurely, 



BOOK IV.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 101 

break away from virtue. Wherefore be not afraid to reprove them, 
and to teach them wisdom with severity. For your corrections will 
not kill them, but rather preserve them. As Solomon saith some- 
where in the book of Wisdom, Chasten thy son, and he {S?». 
will refresh thee ; so wilt thou have good hope of him. Thou {i9:is. 
verily shalt smite him with the rod, and shalt deliver his 1 23: 14. 
soul from death. And again saith the same Solomon thus : He 
that spareth his rod hateth his son; and afterwards, Beat ^S° 2 4. 
his sides while he is an infant, lest he be hardened, and dis- {iofS' 
obey thee. 

He, therefore, who neglecteth to admonish and instruct his son, 
hateth his own child. Do ye, therefore, teach your children the 
Word of the Lord. Moreover, bring them under, even with stripes, 
and make them subject from their infancy, teaching them the Holy 
Scriptures, both ours and divine, and delivering to them every sacred 
writing, not giving such liberty that they get the mastery, { 30: Cl n. 
and act against your judgment ; not permitting them to club together 
for a drinking party with their equals. For so they will be turned 
to disorderly courses, and will fall into fornication ; and if this 
happen by the carelessness of their parents, those that begat them 
will be guilty of their souls. For if the offending children get into 
the company of debauched persons, by the negligence of those that 
begat them, they will not be punished alone ; but their parents also 
will be condemned on their account. For this cause, endeavor, at 
the time when they are of an age fit for marriage, to join them in 
wedlock, and settle them together, lest, in the heat and fervor of 
their age, their course of life become dissolute, and ye be required 
by the Lord God to give an account in the day of judgment. 



XII. 

Of Servants and Masters. 

But as to servants, what can we say more, than that the servant 
bring a good will to his master, with the fear of God, al- { fPf 
though he be impious and wicked; yet, indeed, let him not {l T i£: 
yield any compliance as to his worship. And let the master love 
his servant. Although he be his superior, let him consider wherein 



102 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK IV. 

1 ^ i S'} they are equal, even as he is a man. And he that hath a 
believing master, the master's authority being preserved, let him 
love him, both as his master, and as of the same faith, and as a 
| p e; } father ; not as an eye-servant, but as a lover of his master, 
SSi } as knowing that Grod will recompense him for his service. 
In like manner, let a master who hath a believing servant, the ser- 
vice being continued, love him as a son, or as a brother, on 
account of their communion in the faith. 



XIII. 

In what things we ought to be subject to the rulers of this world. 

Be ye subject to all royal power and dominion, in things that 
2: P i3:} ar ^ pleasing to God, as to the ministers of God, and the pun- 
-Pi. } ishers of the wicked. Render all the fear that is due to 
izfi™',T.} them, all offerings, all customs, all honor, gifts and taxes. 

8. } For this is God's command, that ye owe nothing to any 
one, but the pledge of love, which God hath commanded by Christ. 



XIV. 

Concerning 



\?n. \ Concerning virginity we have received no commandment ; 
but we leave it to the power of those that are willing, as a vow ; 
exhorting them so far in this matter, that they do not promise any 
5? c i } thing rashly ; since Solomon saith, It is better not to vow, 
than to vow and not pay. 

7: C 34:} ^et such a virgin, therefore, be holy in body and soul, as a 
temple of God, as a house of Christ, as a habitation of the Holy 
Spirit. For she that voweth ought to do such works as are suitable 
to her vow ; and to show that her vow is real, and made on account 
of leisure for piety, not to cast a reproach on marriage. Let her 
not be a gadder abroad, nor one that rambleth about unseasonably ; 
hot double-minded ; but grave, continent, sober, pure, avoiding the 
conversation of many, and especially of those that are of ill reputation. 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 103 



BOOK V. 

CONCERNING MARTYRS. 

CHAPTER I. 

That it is reasonable for the faithful to supply, according to the 
constitution of the Lord, the wants of those who, by the unbeliev- 
ers, are afflicted for the sake of Christ. 

If any Christian, on account of the name of Christ, and love and 
faith towards God, be condemned by the ungodly to the games, to 
the beasts, or to the mines, neglect him not ; but send to him from 
your labor and your very sweat, for his sustenance, and for a reward 
to the soldiers, that he may be eased, and be taken care of, that, as 
far as lieth in your power, your blessed brother may not be afflicted. 
For he that is condemned for the name of the Lord God is a holy 
martyr, a brother of the Lord, a son of the Highest, a receptacle of 
the Holy Spirit (by whom every one of the faithful hath received 
the illumination of the glory of the holy Gospel) , in being accounted 
worthy of the incorruptible crown, and the testimony of Christ's suf- 
ferings, and the fellowship of his blood, that he might be made con- 
formable to the death of Christ, and be adopted as a child. 

For this cause, all ye of the faithful, by your Bishop, minister to 
the saints from your substance and from your labor. But if any 
one hath not, let him fast a day, and set apart what is thus saved, and 
order it for the saints. If, however, any one hath abundance, let him 
minister more to them, according to the proportion of his ability. 
But, if he can possibly sell all his livelihood, and redeem them out of 
prison, he will be blessed, and a friend of Christ. For if he that giv- 
eth his goods to the poor be perfect, after a knowledge of divine things, 
much rather is he that giveth them on account of the martyrs. For 
such a one is worthy of God, and will do his will by supplying those 
who have confessed him before nations arid kings, and the children 
of Israel ; concerning whom our Lord declared, saying, Whosoever 
shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before {kK. 



104 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

my Father. And if these be such as to be attested to by Christ 
before his Father, ye ought not to be ashamed to go to them in the 
prisons. For if ye do this, it will be esteemed to you for a testi- 
mony ; because their testimony was what they actually experienced, 
and yours will be your zealous good will, as being partakers of their 
combat. For the Lord speaketh somewhere to such as these, saying, 
25? a 34- } Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and 
ye gave me to eat ; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drinJc. I was a 
stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me. I was 
sick, and ye visited me. I ivas in prison, and ye came unto me. 
Then shall the righteous answer, and say, Lord, ivhen saw we thee 
hungry, and fed thee ? or thirsty, and gave thee drink ? When saw 
we thee naked, and clothed thee ? or sick, and visited thee ? When 
saw ive thee a stranger, and took thee in f or in prison, and came 
unto thee ? And he will answer and say unto them, Inasmuch as 
ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done 
it unto me. And these shall go away into life everlasting. Then 
shall he say unto them on his left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. For I 
was hungry, and ye gave me no food. I was thirsty, and ye gave 
me no drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me not in ; naked, and 
ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. 
Then shall they also answer and say, When saw ive thee hungry, or 
thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not 
minister unto thee? Then shall he ansiver and say unto them, 
Verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have not done it unto one of 
the least of these, neither have ye done it unto me. And these shall 
go away into everlasting punishment. 



II. 

That ive are to avoid intercourse with false brethren, when they 
continue in their perversity. 

But if any one who calleth himself a brother is seduced by the 
evil one, and doeth wickedness, and is convicted, and condemned to 
death, as an adulterer or a murderer, depart from him, that ye may 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 105 

be secure, and none of you may be suspected as a partner in the abom- 
inable crime, and that no evil report may be spread abroad, as if all 
Christians took a pleasure in unlawful actions. Wherefore, keep 
far from them. But with all diligence assist those who, for the sake 
of Christ, are abused by the ungodly, and shut up in prison, or who 
are given over to death, or bonds, or banishment, in order to deliver 
your fellow-members from wicked hands. And if any one who 
accompanieth with them is taken, and falleth under ill-treatment, 
blessed is he ; because he is partaker with the martyr, and is one 
that imitateth the sufferings of Christ. For we ourselves also, when 
we often received stripes from Caiaphas, and Alexander, and Annas, 
went out rejoicing that ive were counted worthy to suffer { Ac ^±\. G ' 
such things for our Saviour. Do ye also rejoice when ye { &&?&, 
suffer such things : for ye shall be blessed in that day. 



III. 

That we ought to afford a helping hand to such as are plundered for 
the sake of Christ, although we should incur danger ourselves. 

Receive also those that are persecuted on account of the faith, 
and that flee from city to city on account of the Lord's com- {i^ffe 
mandment ; and assist them as martyrs, rejoicing that ye are made 
partakers of their persecution, knowing that they are declared by 
our Lord to be blessed. For himself saith, Blessed are ye { f & l[\ 
when men shall reproach you, and persecute you, and say all manner 
of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be { J¥*§; 
exceeding glad, because your reward is great in heaven ; for so per- 
secuted they the prophets who were before us. And again, {iJ^o! 
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you ; and after- 
wards, If they persecute you in this city, flee ye to another. For 
in the world ye have tribulation ; for they shall deliver {&£$.' 10! 17! 
you into the synagogues, and ye shall be brought before rulers and 
kings for my sake, and for a testimony to them. And, He {10/22. 
that endureth unto the end, the same shall be saved. For he that is 
persecuted for the sake of the faith, and beareth witness to Christ, 
and endureth, — this person is truly a man of God. 



106 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

IV. 

That it is a horrible and destructive thing to deny Christ. 

But he that denieth his being Christ's, that he may not be hated 
of men, and so loveth his own life more than the Lord, in whose 
hand his breath is, — this person is wretched and miserable, as 
being detestable and abominable, who desire th to be the friend of 
men, but is the enemy of God, having no longer his portion with the 
saints, but with those that are accursed ; choosing, instead of the 
kingdom of the blessed, that eternal fire which is prepared for the 
devil and his angels ; not being any longer hated by men, but 
rejected by God, and cast out from his presence. For of such a 
iotas'.} one our Lord declared, saying, Whosoever shall deny me 
9- U 26.'} before men, and shall be ashamed of my name, I also will 
deny and be ashamed of him before my Father ivho is in heaven. 
10*3"-} And again, he speaketh thus to ourselves, his disciples, He 
that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me ; and 
he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me ; 
and he that tdketh not his cross and followeth after me, is not worthy 
of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his 
10*2*6.} life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited 
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall 
a man give in exchange for his soul ? And afterwards, Fear not 
io at 28. } them that Mil the body, but are not able to hill the soul ; but 
rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 



That we ought to imitate Christ in suffering, and ivith zeal to 
follow his patience. 

Every one, therefore, who learneth any art, when he seeth his 
master, by his diligence and skill, perfecting his art, doth himself 
earnestly endeavor to make what he taketh in hand, similar to the 
article made by his master. If he is not able, he is not perfected 
in his work. We, therefore, who have a Master, our Lord Jesus 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 107 

Christ, why do we not follow his doctrine ? — since he renounced 
repose, pleasure, glory, riches, pride, the power of revenge, his 
mother and brethren, nay, and moreover, his own life, on account of 
his piety towards his Father, and his love to us, the human family ; 
and suffered not only persecution and stripes, reproach and mockery, 
but also crucifixion, that he might save the penitent, both Jews and 
Gentiles. If, therefore, he, for our sake, renounced his repose, 
was not ashamed of the cross, and did not esteem death inglorious, 
why do we not imitate his sufferings, and renounce, on his account, 
even our own life, with that patience which he giveth us? For he 
did all for our sake, but we for our own sake ; for he doth not stand 
in need of us, but we stand in need of his mercy. He requireth 
only the sincerity and readiness of our faith, as saith the Scripture, 
If thou art righteous, what dost thou give to him ? or what \ 3 ^? b f # 
will he receive at thy hand? Thy wickedness is to a man like thy- 
self, and thy righteousness is to a son of man. 



VI. 

TJiat a believer ought neither rashly to run into danger, through 
security ; nor to be over-timorous, through 'pusillanimity ; but to 
fly away for fear ; yet, if he fall into the enemy's hand, to strive 
earnestly on account of the crown that is laid up for him. 

Let us therefore renounce our parents, and kinsmen, and friends, 
and wife, and children, and possessions, and all the enjoyments of 
life, when any of these things become an impediment to piety. For 
we ought to pray that we may not enter into temptation ; but, if we 
be called to martyrdom, with constancy to confess his precious name ; 
and if, on this account, we be punished, let us rejoice, as hastening 
to immortality. When we are persecuted, let us not think it 
strange. Let us not love the present world, nor the praises which 
come from men, nor the glory and honor of rulers ; as some of the 
Jews wondered at the mighty works of our Lord, yet did not believe 
on him, for fear of the high priests and the rest of the rulers. For 
they loved the praise of men more than the praise of Cfod. { S^'. 

But now, by avowing a good confession, we not only save our- 
selves, but we confirm those who are newly illuminated, and 



108 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

strengthen the faith of the catechumens. But, if we remit any 
part of our confession, and deny godliness by the faintness of our 
persuasion, and the fear of a very short punishment, we not only 
deprive ourselves of everlasting glory, but we shall also become the 
causes of the perdition of others ; and shall suffer double punish- 
ment, as affording suspicion, by our denial, that that truth in which 
we gloried so much before is an erroneous doctrine. 

Wherefore, neither let us be rash and hasty to thrust ourselves 
26?4i. } into dangers ; for the Lord saith, Pray that ye fall not into 
temptation; the spirit, indeed, is willing, but the flesh is weak; nor 
let us, when we do fall into dangers, be fearful or ashamed of our 
profession. For if a person, by the denial of his own hope, which 
is Jesus the Son of God, should be delivered from a temporary 
death, and the next day should fall dangerously sick upon his bed, 
with a malady in his bowels, his stomach, or his head, or any of the 
incurable diseases, as a consumption, or gangrene, or looseness, or 
iliac passion, or dropsy, or cholic, and have a sudden catastrophe, 
and depart this life ; is he not deprived of the things present, and 
doth he not lose those which are eternal ? Or, rather, is he not 

8? a i2.* }* within the verge of eternal punishment, and gone into outer 
darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth f 

But he who is deemed worthy of the honor of martyrdom, let him 
rejoice with joy in the Lord, as obtaining thereby so great a crown, 
and departing out of this life by his confession. Nay, though he be 
but a catechumen, let him depart without trouble ; for his suffering 
for Christ will be to him a more genuine baptism, because he dieth 
with Christ in reality, but the rest only in a figure. Let him there- 
to! \ f° re rejoice in the invitation of his Master ; since it is thus 
ordained, Let every one be perfect, as his Master. Now, his and 
our Master, Jesus the Lord, was smitten for our sake. He under- 
went reproaches and revilings, with long-suffering. He was spit 
upon ; he was smitten on the face ; he was buffeted ; and when he 
had been scourged, he was nailed to the cross. He had vinegar 
and gall to drink ; and when he had fulfilled all things that were 
2 T j: ll 4 e 6. } written, he said to his God and Father, Into thy hands I 
commend my spirit. Wherefore, let him that desireth to be his 
disciple, earnestly follow his conflicts. Let him imitate his patience ; 

D | n - j knowing that, although he be burned in the fire by men, he 
will suffer nothing, as the three children ; or, if he suffer any thing, 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 109 

he shall receive a reward from the Lord, believing in the one and 
only true God and Father, through Jesus Christ, the great High 
Priest, and Redeemer of our souls, and Rewarder of our sufferings ; 
to whom be glory for ever. Amen. 



VII. 

Several demonstrations concerning the Resurrection , concerning the 
Sibyl, and what the Stoics sag concerning the bird called 
Phoenix. 

For the Almighty God himself will raise us up through our Lord 
Jesus Christ, according to his infallible promise, and grant us a 
resurrection with all those that have slept from the beginning of the 
world. And we shall then be such as we now are, in our present 
form, without any defect or corruption ; since we shall rise incor- 
ruptible. For whether we die at sea, or are scattered on the earth, 
or are torn to pieces by wild beasts and birds, he will raise us by his 
own power ; because the whole world is held together by the hand of 
God. Moreover, he saith, A hair of your head shall not {ih%\ 
perish. Wherefore he exhorteth us, saying, In your pa- { 19. 
tience possess ye your souls. 

Besides, concerning the resurrection of the dead, and the recom- 
pense of reward for the martyrs, Gabriel saith to Daniel, { St n 2. 
And many of them that sleep shall arise out of the dust of the earth , 
some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 
And they that understand shall shine as the sun, and as the { gf^ 
firmament, and as the stars. Therefore the most holy Gabriel fore- 
told that the saints should shine like the stars ; for his sacred name 
testified to them that they might understand the truth. 

Nor is a resurrection declared only for the martyrs, but for all 
men, righteous and unrighteous, godly and ungodly, that every one 
may receive according to his desert. For Grod, saith the { gfjjf 
Scripture, will bring every work into judgment, with every secret 
thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. This resurrection 
was not believed by the Jews, when of old they said, Our { g 3 ??^ 
bones are withered, and ive are gone. To whom God answered, and 
said, Behold, I open your graves, and will bring you out of them,, 



110 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

and will put my spirit into you ; and ye shall live, and ye shall know 
that I, the Lord, have spoken it, and will do it. And he saith by 
SfS.i Isaiah, TJie dead shall rise, and those that are in the graves 
shall be raised up. And those that rest in the earth shall rejoice ; 
for the dew which is from thee shall be healing to them. 

There are, indeed, many and various things said concerning the 
resurrection, and concerning the continuance of the righteous in 
glory, and concerning the punishment of the wicked, their fall, 
rejection, condemnation, shame, eternal fire, and endless worm. 
And that, if it had pleased him that all men should be immortal, it 
was in his power, he showed in the examples of Enoch and Elijah, 
while he did not suffer them to have any experience of death. Or, 
if it had pleased him in every generation to raise those that died, 
that this also he was able to do he hath made manifest both by him- 
3Kui g s,| se if an( j Y>y others ; as when he raised the widow's son by 
4Kin gs ,j Elijah, and the Shunamite's son by Elisha. 

But we are persuaded that death is not a retribution of punish- 
ment, because even the saints have undergone it ; nay, even the 
Lord of the saints, Jesus Christ, the life of them that believe, and 
the resurrection of the dead. On this account, therefore, as if [to 
exhibit a spectacle] for those who live in a great city, after the 
combats he bringeth a dissolution for* a little while, that, when he 
raiseth up every one, he may either reject or crown him. For 
he that made the body of Adam out of the earth will raise up the 
bodies of the rest, and that of the first man, after the dissolution to, 
pay what is owing to the rational nature of man ; we mean the con- 
tinuance in being through all ages. He, therefore, who bringeth 
on the dissolution will himself also procure the resurrection. And 
2*f. } he who said, The Lord took dust from the ground, and 
formed man, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man 
& 19. } became a living soul; and who added, after the disobedi- 
ence, Earth thou art, and unto earth shalt thou return; himself 
5: J 28, n 25.} promised us a resurrection afterwards, For, saith he, All 
that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and 
they that hear shall live. 

Besides these arguments, we believe, even from the resurrection 
J n n } °f our Lord, that there is to be a resurrection. For he 
Mark, j himself who raised Lazarus, when he had been in the grave 
Ll 7 ke ' } four days, and Jairus's daughter, and the widow's son ; and 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. Ill 

who, by the command by the Father, raised himself in the space of 
three days, is the pledge of our resurrection. For, saith {n^i. 
he, I am the resurrection and the life. He that brought Jonah, in 
the space of three days, alive and unhurt, out of the belly of the 
whale, and the three children out of the furnace of Babylon, and 
Daniel out of the mouth of the lions, will be in no want of power also 
to awake us. 

But if the Gentiles laugh at us, and disbelieve our Scriptures, let 
at least their own prophetess, the Sibyl, oblige them to believe, who 
saith thus to them, in so many words : 

But when all things shall be reduced to dust and ashes, 

And the immortal God, who kindled the fire, shall have quenched it, 

Bones and ashes God himself shall again form into a man, 

And shall place mortals again as they were before. 

And then, indeed, shall be a judgment, in which God himself will render justice, 

Judging the world again ; and whoever have impiously sinned, 

These the earth again shall cover ; 

But all the pious shall live again in the world, 

God giving spirit, life, and favor to them, the devout. 

Then, moreover, all shall see themselves. 

Orac. Sibyl — B. IV. (end.) 

If, therefore, this prophetess herself confesseth the resurrection, 
and doth not deny the restoration of all things, and distinguisheth 
the godly from the ungodly, it is in vain for them to deny our doc- 
trine. Nay, indeed, they say they can show a resemblance of the 
resurrection (while they do not believe the things which they them- 
selves declare). For they say that there is a bird, single in its 
kind, which affordeth a rich evidence of the resurrection. This 
bird, they affirm, is without a mate, and the only one in the crea- 
tion. They call it a Phoenix, and relate that, every five hundred 
years, it cometh into Egypt, to what is called the altar of the sun, 
and bringeth with it a great quantity of cinnamon, and cassia, and 
balsam wood, and, standing towards the east, as they say, and 
praying to the sun, of its own accord, is burnt, and becometh dust ; 
but that a worm ariseth again out of those ashes ; and when this is 
warmed, it is formed into a new-born Phoenix ; and when it is able 
to fly, it goeth to Arabia, which is beyond the Egyptian countries. 
If now, as even themselves say, a resurrection is exhibited by means 
of an irrational bird, why do they vainly disparage our accounts, 



112 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

when we profess that He who, by his power, bringeth that into being 
which was not in being before, is able also to restore this body, and 
raise it up again after its dissolution ? 

For, on account of this full assurance of hope, we undergo stripes, 
and persecutions, and deaths. Otherwise, we should to no purpose 
undergo such things, if we had not a full assurance of these prom- 
ises, of which we profess ourselves to be the preachers. As, there- 
fore, we believe Moses, when he saith, In the beginning God made 
the heaven and the earth ; and we know that he was not in need of 
matter, but by his will alone brought those things into being which 
Christ was commanded to make ; we mean the heaven, the earth, 
the sea, the light, the night, the day, the luminaries, the stars, the 
fowls, the fishes, the four-footed beasts, the creeping things, the 
plants, and the herbs ; so also will he raise all men up by his will, 
not wanting any assistance. For it is the work of the same power 
to create the world and to raise the dead. And then he made man, 
who was not a man before, of different parts ; giving to him a soul 
made out of nothing. But now he will restore the bodies, which 
have been dissolved, to the souls that are still in being ; for the 
rising again belongeth to things laid down, not to things which have 
no being. The same Being, therefore, that made the original 
matter out of nothing, and out of it formed various bodies, will also 
vivify and again raise up those that are dead. 

For he that formed man in the womb out of a little seed, and 
created in him a soul which was not in being before, as himself 
g e £ } somewhere saith to Jeremiah, Before I formed thee in the 
iff l } tvomb, I knew thee ; and elsewhere, I am the Lord who 
established the heaven, and laid the foundations of the earth, and 
formed the spirit of man in him ; he himself will also raise up all 
men, as being his workmanship ; as also the divine Scripture testi- 
i? e 26. } fieth that God said to Christ, his only-begotten, Let us 
make man after our image, and after our likeness. And God made 
man ; after the image of God made he him ; male and female 
made he them. And the most divine and patient Job, of whom the 
42:° 17. } Scripture saith, It is written that he shall rise again with 
io: io.} those ivhom the Lord raisethup, thus addresseth God : Hast 
thou not milked. me like milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou 
hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast formed me with bones 
and sinews. Thou hast granted me life and favor, and thy visita- 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 113 

tion hath preserved my spirit. Having these things within me, 1 
know that thou canst do all things, and that nothing is impossible 
with thee. Wherefore, also, our Saviour and Master, Jesus Christ, 
saith, that what is impossible with men is possible ivith God. { i£%\ 
And David, the beloved of God, saith, Thy hands have {uifn. 
made me, and fashioned me. And again, Thou knowest {102: 14. 
my frame ; and afterwards, Thou hast fashioned me, and { iss: 5. 
laid thy hand upon me. The knowledge of thee is declared to be too 
ivonderful for me. It is very great ; I cannot attain unto it. 
Thine eyes did see my substance, being yet imperfect ; and all men 
shall be ivritten in thy book. But also Isaiah saith in his prayer 
to him, We are the clay, and thou art the Frcmier of us. If, there- 
fore, man be his workmanship, made by Christ, by him most cer- 
tainly will he, after he is dead, be raised again, for the purpose of 
being either crowned for his good actions, or punished for his trans- 
gressions. But if, being the lawgiver, he judgeth with righteous- 
ness, as he punisheth the wicked, so doth he do good to and save 
the faithful. And those saints who, for his sake, have been slain by 
men, some of them he will cause to shine as the stars, {^f? 1 !!' 
and others he will make bright as the luminaries ; as Gabriel said 
to Daniel. 

All we of the faithful, therefore, who are the disciples of Christ, 
believe his promises. For he that hath promised, cannot lie. But, 
saith the blessed prophet David, The Lord is faithful in {ulffd. 
all his words, and holy in all his ivorks. For he that framed for 
himself a body out of a virgin, is also the Former of other men. 
And he that raised himself from the dead, will also raise again all 
that are lying in death. He who raiseth wheat out of the ground, 
with many stalks from one grain ; he who maketh the tree that is 
cut down, send forth fresh branches ; he who made Aaron's dry rod 
put forth buds, will himself also raise us up in glory. He { 5f*; 
who raised up to perfect health him that had the palsy, and { *l? T t 
healed him that had the withered hand ; he who, from clay { 3 £*f; 
and spittle, supplied a defective part to him who was born blind, the 
same will also raise us up. He that satisfied five thousand { uf^ii 
men with five loaves and two fishes, and caused a remainder of 
twelve baskets ; and out of the water made wine, and sent a { ^f 1 " 1 
piece of money out of a fish's mouth, by me Peter, to {i^i 
those who demanded tribute ; he also will raise the dead. For we 



114 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

testify all these things concerning him, and the prophets testify the 
other. 

We, who have eaten and drank with him, and have been specta- 
tors of his wonderful works, and of his life, and of his deportment, 
and of his words, and of his sufferings, and of his death, and of his 
resurrection from the dead, and who conversed with him forty days 
after his resurrection, and who received a command from him to 
28?i9. } preach the Grospel to all the world, and to make disciples of 
all nations, and to baptize them into his death, by the authority of 
the God of the universe, who is his Father ; and by the testimonv 
of the Spirit, who is the Comforter, — we teach you all these things 
Acts, j w hich he appointed us by his constitutions, before he was 
received up in our sight into heaven, to him that sent him. And if 
ye will believe, ye shall be happy ; but if ye will not believe, we 
shall be found innocent, and clear from your incredulity. 



VIII. 

Concerning James, the brother of the Lord, and Stephen, the first 

Martyr, 

Now, concerning the martyrs, we say to you, that they are to be 
held in all honor with you, as we honor the blessed James, the 
Bishop, and the holy Stephen, our fellow-servant. For these are 
accounted by God to be blessed, and are honored by holy men, as 
being pure from all transgressions, immovable, when tempted to sin, 
or persuaded from good works ; undoubtedly entitled to encomiums. 
iil*i5.} Of whom also David said, Precious in the sight of the Lord 
id? 7' } * s the death of his holy ones ; and Solomon, The memory 
l ff & i; } of the just is with praise. Of whom also the prophet said, 
Righteous men are taken away. 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 115 

IX. 

Concerning False Martyrs. 

These things we have said concerning those who, in truth, have 
been martyrs for Christ, but not concerning false martyrs, concern- 
ing whom the oracle saith, The name of the wicked is extin- { \™\ 
guished. For, A faithful witness will not lie, but an un- { i4: 5. 
faithful ivitness inflameth lies. For he that departeth this life in 
testimony for the truth, without falsification, is a faithful martyr, 
worthy to be believed in those things in which he strove, by his 
own blood, for the word of piety. 



X. 

A moral admonition that we are to abstain from vain talking, ob- 
scene talking, jesting, drunkenness, lasciviousness, and luxury. 

Moreover, we exhort you, brethren and fellow-servants, to avoid 
vain talk, and obscene discourses, and jesting, drunkenness, lasciv- 
iousness, luxury, and unbounded passions, with foolish talking ; 
since neither on the Lord's days, which are days of joy, do we 
permit you to speak or act any thing unseemly. For the Scripture 
somewhere saith, Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto { v 2 s& lf 
Mm with trembling. Even your very rejoicings, therefore, ought to 
be done with fear and trembling. For a Christian who is faithful 
ought neither to repeat a heathen hymn, nor an obscene song ; 
because he will be obliged, by that hymn, to make mention of the 
idolatrous names of demons ; and, instead of the Holy Spirit, the 
wicked one will enter into him. 



116 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 



XI. 

An admonition, instructing men to avoid the abominable sin of 

Idolatry. 

Ye are also forbidden to swear by them, or to utter their abomina- 
ble names through your mouth, and to worship them, or fear them as 
gods ; for they are not gods, but either wicked demons, or the ridic- 
ulous contrivances of men. For somewhere God saith concerning 
lf\ } the Israelites, They have forsaken me, and sworn by them 
S?2:} tf ia t are no 9°ds ; and afterwards, I will take aivay the 
names of the idols out of their mouth; and elsewhere, They have 
32? 21.} 'provoked me to jealousy with them that are no gods ; they 
have provoked me to anger ivith their idols. And in all the Scrip- 
tures these things are forbidden by the Lord God. 



XII. 

That we ought not to sing a heathen or an obscene song ; nor to 
swear by an idol, because it is an impious thing, and contrary to 
the knoivledge of Grod. 

But not only concerning idols do our holy statutes give us prohi- 
bitions, but also concerning the luminaries. They admonish us not 
4: e i9.'} to swear by them, nor to serve them. For they say, Lest 
when thou seest the sun and the moon, and the stars, thou shouldst 
io?2. } & e seduced to worship them ; and elsewhere, Learn not to 
walk after the ways of the heathen, and be not afraid of the signs of 
heaven. For the stars and the luminaries were given to men to 
shine upon them, but not for worship ; although the Israelites, by 
the perverseness of their temper, worshipped the creature instead of 
the Creator, and became injurious to their Maker, and admired the 
E 32° : d 4. Sl } creature more than was fit. And sometimes they made a 

zR } ca ^> as m the wilderness ; sometimes they worshipped 
J S? 1:3 s ' } Baal-peor ; another time, Baal, and Thammuz, and Astarte 

fful } °f Sidon ; and again, Moloch and Chamos ; another time, 
B i8Y'} tne sun 5 as ** l3 written in Ezekiel ; nay, and besides, 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 117 

irrational creatures, as, amongst the Egyptians, apes and { f.^: 
the Mendesian goat ; and gods of silver and gold, as in Judea. On 
account of all which things, he threatened them, and said by the 
prophet, Is it a small tiling to the house of Judah to do these abom- 
inations, which they have done? For they have filled the land 
with their ivickedness, to provoke me to anger. And behold, they 
are as those that mock. But I will act with anger ; mine eye shall 
not spare, nor will I have mercy. And they shall cry in mine ears 
with a great voice, and I will not hearken unto them. 

Consider, beloved, how many things the Lord declare th against 
idolaters, and the worshippers of the sun and moon. Wherefore it is 
the duty of a man of God, as he is a Christian, not to swear by the 
sun, nor by the moon, nor by the stars, nor by the heaven, nor by 
the earth, nor by any of the elements, whether small or great. 
For if our Master charged us not to swear by the true God, {^34. 
that our word might be firmer than an oath, nor by heaven \ 23: ic. 
itself, for that is a heathenish impiety, nor by Jerusalem, nor by 
the sanctuary of God, nor the altar, nor the gift, nor the gilding of 
the altar, nor one's own head ; for this custom is a piece of Jewish 
corruption, and on that account it was forbidden ; and if he enjoined 
upon the faithful that their yea be yea, and their nay nay ; and 
said that what is more than these is of the evil one ; how much more 
blamable are those who appeal to deities falsely so called, as the 
objects of an oath, and who glorify imaginary beings instead of 
those that are real ! whom God, for their perverseness, delivered 
over to foolishness, to do those things that are not conve- {J°S'. 
nient. 



XIII. 

A catalogue of the feasts of the Lord which are to be kept ; and 
when each of them ought to observed. 

Brethren, observe the festival days, and first indeed the birth-day 
of our Lord, which is to be celebrated by you on the twenty-fifth 
of the ninth month.* After which, let Epiphany be to you the 



* Corresponding to our December ; for this is the ninth from the Macedonian 
Xanthicus (April,) which the writer regarded as the first month. See the next 
chapter. — C. 



118 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

most honorable, in which the Lord made to us a manifestation of his 
own divinity ; but let this festival be observed on the sixth of the 
tenth month. Subsequently the Quadragesimal fast (Lent) is to be 
observed by you, as containing a memorial both of our Lord's 
deportment and of his legislation. But let this fast be observed 
before the fast of the Passover, beginning from the second day of 
the week, and ending at the day of the Preparation. After which 
solemnities, breaking off your fast, begin the Holy Week of the 
Passover, fasting in the same all of you with fear and trembling, 
praying in those days for the perishing. 



XIV. 

Concerning the Passion of our Lord, and what was done on each 
day of his sufferings ; and concerning Judas ; and that Judas 
was not present when the Lord delivered the mysteries to his 
disciples. 

For they began to hold a council against the Lord on the second 
day of the week, in the first month, which is Xanthicus ; and the 
deliberation continued on the third day of the week ; but on the 
fourth day, they determined to take away his life by crucifixion. 
And Judas knowing this, who for a long time had been perverted, 
but was then smitten by the devil himself with the love of money, 
although he had long been entrusted with the purse, and used to 
steal what was set apart for the needy, yet was not cast off by 
the Lord, through much long-suffering. Besides, when we were 
once feasting with him, being willing both to bring him back to his 
duty, and to instruct us in his own foreknowledge, he said, Verily, 
verily, I say unto you, that one of you will betray me. And every 
one of us saying, Is it If and the Lord being silent, I, who was one 
of the twelve, and more beloved by him than the rest, arose up 
from lying in his bosom, and besought him to tell who it should be 
that should betray him. Yet neither then did our gracious Lord 
declare his name, but gave two signs of the betrayer ; one by 
saying, He that dippeth with me in the dish ; and a second, To 
whom I shall give the sop when I have dipped it. Although even 
he said, Master, is it If the Lord did not say yes, but Thou hast 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 119 

said. And being willing to terrify him in the matter, he said, Woe 
to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. Good were it 
for him if he had never been born. And having heard these things, 
he went away, and said to the priests, What will ye give {^fi 
me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they bargained with 
him for thirty pieces of silver. And the Scripture was fulfilled 
which saith, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the {27**9. 
price of him that ivas valued, whom they of the children of Israel did 
value, and gave them for the house of the potter. 

And on the fifth day of the week, when we had eaten the Pass- 
over with him, and when Judas had dipped his hand into the dish, 
and received the sop, and was gone out by night, the Lord said to 
us, The hour is come that ye shall be dispersed, and shall {i 6 0l f 2 . 
leave me alone. And every one vehemently affirming that {asfff. 
we would not forsake him, I, Peter, adding this promise that I 
would even die with him, he said, Verily I say unto thee, {}£\l. 
before the cock croweth, thou shalt thrice deny that thou knoivest me. 
And when he had delivered to us the representative mysteries of 
his precious body and blood, Judas not being present with us, he 
went out to the Mount of Olives, near the brook Cedron, { jg^ 
where there was a garden ; and we were with him, and sang {S^w. 
a hymn, according to the custom ; and being separated from us, he 
prayed earnestly to his Father, saying, Father, remove this { 2 ^|. 
cup away from me ; yet not my ivill, but thine, be done. { 2 " at ®. 
And when he had done this thrice, while we out of despondency 
were fallen asleep, he came and said, The hour is come, {J?**^ 
and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 

And behold, Judas, and with him a multitude of ungodly men, 
to whom he showeth the signal by which he was to betray him, a 
deceitful kiss. But they, when they had received the signal agreed 
on, took hold of the Lord ; and, having bound him, they led him to 
the house of Caiaphas, the high priest, in which were assembled 
many, not the people, but a rabble, not a holy council of elders, but 
an assembly of the wicked, and senate of the ungodly, who did 
many things against him, and left no kind of injury untried, spitting 
upon him, deriding him, beating him, smiting him on the face, 
reviling him, tempting him, seeking vain divination instead of true 
prophecies from him, calling him a deceiver, a transgressor of Moses, 
a destroyer of the temple, a taker away of sacrifices, an enemy to 



120 CONSTITUTIONS OE [bOOKV. 

the Romans, an adversary to Caesar. And these reproaches did 
r ia!'i7 21: } these bulls and dogs, in their madness, cast upon him, till 
it was very early in the morning ; and then they led him away to 
Annas, who was father-in-law to Caiaphas ; and when they had done 
the like things to him there, it being the day of the Preparation, 
they delivered him to Pilate, the Roman governor, accusing him of 
many and great things, none of which they could prove. 

Upon which, the governor, being out of patience with them, said, 
23: U i!.} I find no cause against him. But they brought two false 
iffs} witnesses, and wished thus to substantiate a slanderous ac- 
cusation against him ; but, these being found disagreeing, they 
lf}$. } referred the matter to loyalty, saying, This fellow saith 
that he is a Mng, and forbiddeth to give tribute to Cassar. And 
themselves became accusers, and witnesses, and judges, and authors 
23*21.} °f the sentence, saying Crucify him, crucify him; that it 
might be fulfilled which is written by the prophets concerning him, 
llfS.} Unjust witnesses were gathered together against me, and in- 
21: 17. 1 justice lied to itself. And again, Many dogs compassed me 
about; the assembly of the wicked laid siege against me. And 
J f-.'s.} elsewhere, My heritage hath become to me as a lion in a 
forest, and hath sent forth her voice against me. Pilate, therefore, 
disgracing his authority by his pusillanimity, convicteth himself of 
wickedness, by regarding the multitude more than this just person, 
and bearing witness to him as innocent, yet delivering him up, as 
guilty, to the punishment of the cross ; although the Romans had 
made laws that no man unconvicted should be put to death. 

But the executioners took the Lord of glory, and nailed him to 
the cross, crucifying him indeed at the tenth hour, but having 
received the sentence of his condemnation at the third hour. After 
this they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall. Then they 
divided his garments by lot. Then they crucified two malefactors 
with him, on each side one, that it might be fulfilled which was writ- 
IsTl?.} ten, They gave me gall to eat ; and ivhen I was thirsty, they 
gave me vinegar to drink. And again, They divided my garments 
21 : aI i9. } among themselves, and upon my vesture they have cast lots. 
elf 12.} And m another place, And I was reckoned with the trans- 



Then there was darkness for three hours, from the sixth to the 
ninth, and again light in the evening ; as it is written, It shall not 



BOOK V.] THE UOLY APOSTLES. 121 



Zech. 
14:7. 



be day nor night ; and at the evening there shall be light. 
All which things when those malefactors saw that were crucified 
with him, one of them reproached him, as though he was weak, and 
unable to deliver himself ; but the other rebuked the ignorance of 
his companion, and, turning to the Lord, as being enlightened by 
him, and acknowledging who he was that suffered, he prayed that he 
would remember him in his kingdom hereafter. The Lord then imme- 
diately granted him the forgiveness of his former sins, and brought 
him into Paradise to enjoy the mystical good things. He also, 
about the ninth hour, cried out and said to his Father, My God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me f And a little after- {jffSJjs. 
wards, when lie had cried with a loud voice, Father, ^st. 
forgive them, for they know not what they do ; and had added, 
Into thy hands I commend my spirit, he gave up the ghost ; {$&?&. 
and, before sunset, he was buried in a new sepulchre. 

But when the first day of the week dawned, he arose from the 
dead, and fulfilled those things which before his passion he foretold 
to us, saying, The Son of Man must continue in the heart {&?%. 
of the earth three days and three nights. And when he was risen 
from the dead, he appeared first to Mary Magdalen, and { JJ : ar £ 
Mary the mother of James ; then to Cleopas in the way ; { 2 T 4°i8. 
and, after that, to us his disciples, who had fled away for {^fu. 
fear of the Jews, but privately were very inquisitive concerning 
him. But these things are also written in the Gospel. 



XV. 

Of the Great Week ; and on what account they enjoin us to fast on 
Wednesday and Friday. 

He therefore himself charged us to fast these six days, on ac- 
count of the impiety and transgression of the Jews ; commanding 
us to mourn over them, and lament for their perdition. For even 
he himself ivept over them, because they knew not the time of {/^t. 
their visitation. But he commanded us to fast on the fourth day of 
the week (Wednesday), and on the Preparation (Friday), — the 
former on account of his being betrayed, and the latter on account 
of his Passion. But he appointed us to break our fast on the 



122 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

seventh day at the cock-crowing, but to fast during the Sabbath 
itself ; not that the Sabbath is a day of fasting, it being the rest 
from the creation, but because we ought to fast this one Sabbath 
only, while on this day the Creator was yet under the earth. For 
on their very Feast day they apprehended the Lord, that that oracle 
psaim | m ight be fulfilled which saith, They placed their signs in the 
middle of their feast , and knew them not. Ye ought, therefore, to 
mourn over them, because when the Lord came they did not believe 
on him, but rejected his doctrine, judging themselves unworthy of 
salvation. 

Consequently, ye are blessed, who once were not a people, but 
are now a holy nation, delivered from the deceit of idols, from igno- 
rance, from impiety ; who once had not obtained mercy, but now 
have obtained mercy, through your hearty obedience. For to you, 
the converted Gentiles, is opened the gate of life, who formerly 
were not beloved, but are now beloved ; a people ordained for the 
possession of God, to show forth his virtues ; concerning whom our 
HSf&X Saviour said, I was found of them that sought me not ; I 
was made manifest to them that asked not after me. I said, Behold 
me, to a nation that did not call upon my name. For when they 
did not seek after him, then were they sought for by him ; 
and ye who have believed in him have hearkened to his call, 
and have left the madness of polytheism, and have fled to the 
true monarchy, to Almighty God, through Christ Jesus, and 
are become the completion of the number of the saved, Ten 
7? a io. \ thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thou- 
aof 7 m } sands ; as it is written in David, A thousand shall fall at 
thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand. And again, The 
mTi?.} chariots of God are by tens of thousands, and thousands of 
&£?.' \ the prosperous. But to unbelieving Israel he saith, All the 
day long have I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gain- 
saying people, which go in a ivay that is not good, but after their 
own sins ; a people provoking me before my face. 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 123 



XVI. 

An enumeration of the prophetical predictions which declare Christ ; 
ivhose completion though the Jews saiv, yet, out of the evil temper 
of their mind, they did not believe he was the Christ of Crod, and 
condemned the Lord of glory to the cross. 

See how the people provoked the Lord by not believing in him. 
Therefore he saith, They provoked the Holy Spirit, and he {llfwl 
was turned to be their enemy. For blindness is cast upon them by 
reason of the wickedness of their mind ; because, when they saw 
Jesus, they did not believe him to be the Christ of God, who was 
before all ages begotten of him, his only-begotten Son, God the 
Word, whom they did not own, through their unbelief, neither on 
on account of his mighty works, nor yet on account of the prophe- 
cies which were written concerning him. For that he was to be 
born of a virgin, they read this prophecy, Behold a virgin ffifit 
shall be with child, and. shall bring forth a son, and they shall call 
his name Immanuel. For to us a child is born, to us a son {^f^' 
is given, whose government is upon his shoulders ; and his name is 
called the Angel of the great Council, the Wonderful Counsellor, the 
Mighty God, the Potentate, the Prince of Peace, the Father of the 
future age. Moreover, that through their exceedingly great wick- 
edness, they would not believe in him, the Scripture saith, { I 5f: a l h, 
Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of 
the Lord been revealed? And afterwards, Hearing ye shall \*lf$ h ' 
hear, and shall not understand ; and seeing ye shall see, and shall 
not perceive ; for the heart of this people is waxed gross. 

Wherefore knowledge was taken from them, because seeing, they 
overlooked ; and hearing, they heard not. But to you, the converted 
of the Gentiles, is the kingdom given, because ye, who knew not 
God, have believed by preaching, and have known him, or { g a J; 
rather are known of him, through Jesus, the Saviour and Redeemer 
of those that hope in him. For ye are translated from your former 
vain and tedious customs, and have contemned the lifeless idols, and 
despised the demons which are in darkness, and have hastened to 
the true light, and by it have known the one and only { j0 i7; *; 9 * 
true Qod and Father, and so are owned to be heirs of his kingdom. 



124 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

e?X } For since ye have been baptized into the Lord's death, and 
\^2 L } into his resurrection, as new-born babes, ye ought to be 
6: C i°9 r .* } wholly free from all sinful actions. For ye are not your 
own, but his that bought you with his own blood. For concerning 
the former Israel, the Lard said, on account of their unbelief, that 
2*48. } the kingdom of G-od shall be taken from them, and given 
to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof ; that is to say, that, 
having given the kingdom to you who were once far estranged from 
him, he expecteth the fruits of your gratitude and probity. For ye 
are those that were once sent into the vineyard, and did not obey, 
but these they that did obey ; but ye have repented of your denial, 
and ye work therein now. But they, being uneasy on account of 
their own covenants, have not only left the vineyard uncultivated, but 
have also killed the stewards of the lord of the vineyard ; one with 
stones, another with the sword ; one they sawed asunder, another 
they slew in the holy place, between the temple and the altar ; nay, 
2^ at 35.} a ^ l as k they ca *t the heir himself out of the vineyard, and 
slew him. And by them he was rejected as an unprofitable stone ; 
2? a 42.} but; by you he was received as a corner-stone. Wherefore 
nfS.} he saith concerning you, A people whom I knew not have 
served me ; and at the hearing of the ear they obeyed me. 

XVII. 

Mow the Passover ought to be celebrated. 

Therefore, brethren, ye, who are redeemed by the precious blood 
of Christ, ought diligently to celebrate the days of the Passover, 
with all carefulness, after the equinox, that ye keep not the memo- 
rial of the one passion twice in a year, but once only in a year for 
him that died but once ; no longer indeed scrupulously caring to 
celebrate the feast with the Jews ; for with them we now have no 
fellowship. For they are deceived in respect to the computation 
itself, which they think to carry into effect ; as on every side they 
are deceived, and are separated from the truth. But do ye regard 
attentively the vernal equinox, which occurreth on the twenty-second 
day of the twelfth month (which is March), watching carefully until 
the twenty-first day of the moon, lest the fourteenth day of the moon 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 125 

fall on another week ; and, an error being made, ye through igno- 
rance celebrate the Passover twice in the year ; or keep the feast 
commemorative of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, on some other 
than the Lord's day. 



XVIII. 

A Constitution concerning the great Passover Week. 

In the days, therefore, of the Passover, fast, beginning from the 
second day of week until the Preparation and the Sabbath, six days ; 
making use of only bread, and salt, and herbs, and water for your 
drink ; but abstain from wine and flesh on these days ; for they are 
days of lamentation, and not of feasting. Do ye who are able fast 
the day of the Preparation and the Sabbath entirely, tasting nothing 
till the cock-crowing of the night ; but if any one is not able to join 
them both together, at least let him retain the Sabbath ; for the 
Lord saith somewhere, speaking of himself, When the bride- {^"ol 
groom shall be taken away from them, in those dags shall they fast. 
In these days, therefore, he was taken from the Jews, falsely so 
named, and fastened to the cross, and ivas numbered among \llfu] 
the transgressors. 



XIX. 

Concerning the watching all the night of the great Sabbath, and 
concerning the day of the Resurrection. 

Wherefore we exhort you "to fast on those days, till the evening, 
as we also fasted when he was taken away from us. But on the 
rest of the days, before the day of the Preparation, let every one 
eat at the ninth hour, or at the evening, or as every one is able. 
Bat on the Sabbath, extending the fast till cock-crowing, discontinue 
it at the dawning of the first day of the week, which is the Lord's 
day. From the evening till cock-crowing keep awake, and assemble 
together in the church ; watch, praying and entreating God ; read- 
ing, when ye sit up all night, the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, 
until cock-crowing ; and baptizing your catechumens, and reading 
the gospel with fear and trembling, and speaking to the people such 



126 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

things as tend to their salvation, put an end to your sorrow, and 
beseech God that Israel may be converted, and that he will allow 
them place of repentance, and the remission of their impiety. For 
the judge, who was a foreigner, washed his hands, and said, I am 
S7: > 9M5.} innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. 
But Israel cried out, His blood be on us, and on our children. And 
lifik} when Pilate said, Shall I crucify your king? they cried 
19: 6. } out, We have no king but Ocesar ; crucify him, crucify 
19: i2. } him ; for every one that maketh himself a king, speaketh 
against Cmsar. And, If thou let this man go, thou art not Cossar's 
friend. And Pilate the governor, and Herod the king, com- 
manded him to be crucified ; and that oracle was fulfilled which 
P 2?i?} saith, Why did the Gentiles rage, and the people imagine 
vain things f The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers 
were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. 
ilfi9.'} And, They cast away the beloved, as a dead man, ivho is 
abominable. , 

And since he was crucified on the day of the Preparation, and 
rose again at the break of day on the Lord's day, the Scripture was 
si? s 1 } fulfilled which saith, Arise, Grod, judge the earth ; for 
thou shalt have an inheritance in all the nations. And again, I will 
n?S^ arise, saith the Lord; I will put him in safety ; Iivill ivax 
40:io.} bold through him. And, But thou, Lord, have mercy upon 
me, and raise me up again, and I shall requite them. For this 
reason do ye also, now the Lord is risen, offer your sacrifice, con- 
2 1 2?i9.'} cerning which he made a constitution by us, saying, This 
do in remembrance of me ; and thenceforward leave off your fasting, 
and rejoice, and keep a festival, because Jesus Christ, the pledge of 
our resurrection, is risen from the dead. And let this be an ever- 
lasting ordinance till the consummation of the world, until the Lord 
ii?26'.} come. For to the Jews the Lord is still dead, but to 
Christians he is risen : to the former, by their unbelief ; to the 
latter, by their full assurance of faith. For the hope in him is 
immortal and eternal life. 

After eight days, let there be another feast observed with honor, 
the eighth day itself, on which he gave me, Thomas, who was hard 
s&ffi.'} °f belief, fall assurance, by showing me the print of the 
nails, and the wound made in his side by the spear. 

And again, from the first Lord's day count forty days, from the 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 127 

Lord's day till the fifth day of the week ; and celebrate the Feast 
of the Ascension of the Lord, in which he finished all his dispensa- 
tion and constitution, and returned to the God and Father who had 
sent him ; sitting down at the right hand of power, and {hJ"'io: : is.' 
remaining there until his enemies be put under his feet. He { J£f£|; 
will also come at the end of the world, with power and { 2 rS.'^6.' 
great glory, to judge the living and the dead, and to recompense 
every one according to his works. And then shall they see the 
beloved Son of God, whom they pierced ; and when they \ y^fi. 
know him, they shall mourn for themselves, tribe by tribe, {i 2 7 fio- 
and their wives apart. 



XX. 

A Prophetic Prediction concerning Christ Jesus, 

For even now, on the tenth day of the month September, when 
they assemble together, they read the Lamentations of Jeremiah, in 
which it is said, The spirit before our face, Christ the Lord {£*$. 
was taken in their destructions ; and Baruch, in whom it is written, 
This is our Grod ; no other shall be esteemed with him. He { 3 f Y<j. 
found out every way of knowledge, and showed it to Jacob his son, 
and Israel his beloved. Afterwards he was seen upon earth, and 
conversed with men. And when they read them, they lament and 
bewail, as themselves suppose, that desolation which happened by 
Nebuchadnezzar ; but, as the truth showeth, they unwillingly make 
a prelude to that lamentation which will overtake them. 

But after ten days from the ascension, which, from the first Lord's 
day, is the fiftieth day, let there be to you a great festival. For on 
that day, at the third hour, the Lord Jesus sent on us the gift of the 
Holy* Ghost, and we were filled with his energy, and we spake { ^?*f; 
with new tongues, as that Spirit suggested to us ; and we preached 
both to Jews and Gentiles, that he is the Christ of God, who is 
determined by him to be the Judge of the living and the \$*Zi. 
dead. To him did Moses bear witness, saying, The Lord {^f\. 
received fire from the Lord, and rained it down. Him Jacob saw 
as a man, and said, I have seen God face to face, and my \^m. 
soul is preserved. Him Abraham entertained, and acknowl- { 2 5 1 , 8 27. 



128 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK V. 

T £°l' } edged to be the Judge and his own Lord. Him Moses saw 
Sfik} m tne bush. Concerning him he said in Deuteronomy, A 
Prophet will the Lord your God raise up unto you out of your breth- 
ren, like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all things, whatsoever he 
shall say unto you. And it shall be, that every soul that will not 
hear that Prophet shall be destroyed from among his people. Him 
f. ^; } did Joshua, the son of Nun, see, as the captain of the Lord's 
host, in armor, for his assistance against Jericho ; to whom he fell 
down and worshipped, as a servant doth to his master. Him Sam- 
1 5fl;'} ue l knew, as the anointed of God, and thence named the 
priests and the kings the anointed. Him David knew, and sung a 
hymn concerning him, saying, A song concerning the Beloved; and, 
S al s-} addressing it to his person, he said, Gird thy sword upon 
thy thigh, thou who art mighty, in thy beauty and renown. Go 
on and prosper, and reign, for the sake of truth, and meekness, and 
righteousness ; and thy right hand shall guide thee after a wonder- 
ful manner. Thy darts are sharp, — thou that art mighty, 
the people shall fall under thee, - — in the heart of the king's ene- 
mies. Wherefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee ivith the oil of 
gladness above thy fellows. Concerning him spake Solomon, as in 
his person : The Lord created me the beginning of his ways, for 
i™2-} hi s works. Before the world he founded me ; in the begin- 
ning, before he made the earth, before the fountains of waters came, 
before the mountains were fastened, before all the hills, he begat me. 
^fj- } And again, Wisdom built herself a house. Concerning 
J ffJ a {' } him also Isaiah said, A branch shall come out of the root of 
ii: io. } Jesse ; and a flower shall spring out of his root. And there 
shall be a root of Jesse, and he that is to rise to reign over the Gentiles ; 
z yf».' } i> n him shall the Gentiles trust. And Zechariah saith, Be- 
hold thy king cometh unto thee, just, and having salvation, meek, 
and riding upon an ass, even a colt, the foal of an ass. Him 
£§.} Daniel describeth as the Son of Man coming to the Father, 
2: 34. } and receiving all judgment and honor from him ; and as the 
stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and becoming a great 
mountain, and filling the whole earth, dashing to pieces the many 
governments of the smaller countries, and the polytheism of the 
gods ; but preaching the one God, and ordaining the monarchy of 
the Romans. Concerning him also prophesieth Jeremiah, saying, 
4^} The Spirit before his face, Christ the Lord, was taken hi 



BOOK V.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 129 

their snares, of ivhom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among 
the Gentiles. Ezekiel also, and the subsequent prophets, affirm 
everywhere that he is the Christ, the Lord, the King, the Judge, 
the Lawgiver, the Angel of the Father, the only-begotten God. 
Him, therefore, do we also preach to you, and declare to be God 
the Word, who ministered to his God and Father for the creation of 
the universe. Believing in him, ye shall live ; but not believing, 
ye shall be punished. For he that is disobedient to the Son {&?&] 
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. 

Therefore, after ye have kept the festival of the Pentecost, keep 
festival one week more ; and after that, fast one ; for it is reason- 
able to rejoice for the gift of God, and to fast after that relaxation. 
For both Moses and Elias fasted forty days ; and Dan- {sk&mJ?8. 
iel for three weeks of days did not eat desirable bread, and { f * n 2 
flesh and wine did not enter into his mouth ; and blessed Hannah, 
when she asked for Samuel, said, I have not drunk wine, {^Jf 1 
nor strong drink, and I pour out my soul before the Lord ; and the 
Ninevites, when they fasted three days and three nights, \ J £?| h < 
escaped the execution of wrath. And Esther, and Mor- { Jftjjf' 
decai, and Judith, by fasting escaped the insurrection of { ^J. 1 ' 1 
the ungodly Holofernes and Haman. And David saith, {lolf^l 
My knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh faileth for want 
of oil. 

Do ye, therefore, fast, and ask your petitions of God. We enjoin 
you to fast every fourth day of the week, and every day of the 
Preparation ; and what is saved by your fasting bestow upon the 
needy. Every Sabbath except one, and every Lord's day, hold 
your religious assemblies, and rejoice ; for he will be guilty of sin 
who fasteth on the Lord's day, it being the day of the resurrection, 
or during the time of Pentecost, or, in general, who is sad on a fes- 
tival day to the Lord ; for then we ought to rejoice, and not to 
mourn, v 

9 



130 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 



BOOK VI. 

CONCERNING SCHISMS. 

CHAPTER I. 

Who they were that ventured to make Schisms, and did not escape 

punishment. 

Above all things, Bishops, avoid the sad, and dangerous, and 
lawless heresies, eschewing them as fire that burneth those who 
come near it. Avoid also schisms ; for it is neither lawful to turn 
one's mind towards wicked heresies, nor, out of ambition, to separ- 
ate from the men who agree with you in sentiment. For, in ancient 
times, certain persons who ventured to do thus, did not escape pun- 
H £P* } ishment. Dathan and Abiram, who set up in opposition to 
Moses, were swallowed down into the earth. And Corah, and those 
two hundred and fifty who with him raised a sedition against Aaron, 
were consumed by fire. Miriam also, who reproached Moses, was 
Sfi.' } cas ^ out °f the camp for seven days ; for she alleged that 
26: C i6-2o. } Moses had married an Ethiopian woman. Nay, there is 
the case of Azariah and Uzziah ; the latter of whom was king of 
Judah, but, venturing to usurp the priesthood, and desiring to 
offer incense, which it was not lawful for him to do, was forbidden 
by Azariah, the high priest, and the fourscore priests ; and when 
he would not obey, he perceived the leprosy to rise in his forehead ; 
and he hastened to go out, because the Lord had reproved him. 



II. 

That it is not lawful to Hse up against either the kingly or the 

priestly office. 

Let us, therefore, beloved, consider what sort of glory that of the 
seditious is, and what their condemnation. For if he that riseth up 
against kings is worthy of punishment, even though he be a son or 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 131 

a friend ; how much more he that riseth up against the priests ! 
For by how much the priesthood is more noble than the royal 
power, as having its concern about the soul, so much hath he a 
greater punishment who ventureth to oppose the priesthood, than 
he who ventureth to oppose the royal power, although neither of 
them goeth unpunished. For neither did Absalom and {ifffo. 1 
Abedadan* escape without punishment; nor Corah and Datham 
The former two rose against David, and strove concerning { *i u 6 m - 
the kingdom ; the latter, against Moses, concerning preeminence. 
And they spake evil, Absalom of his father David, as of an unjust 
judge, saying to every one, Thy words are good ; but there { 2 1 I Ji n ! 8, 
is no one that will hear thee, and do thee justice. Wlio will make 
me a ruler? and Abedadan said, I have no fart in David, { 2 ^!f. s ' 
nor any inheritance in the son of Jesse. It is plain that he could 
not endure to be under David's government, of whom God spake : 
I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, {^?%. 
who will do all my commands. But Dathan and Abiram, and the 
followers of Corah, said to Moses, Is it a small thing that {$™j. 
thou hast brought us out of the land of Egypt, out of a land flowing 
with milk and honey ? And why hast thou put out our eyes ? And 
wilt thou rule over us f And they gathered together against him a 
great congregation ; and the followers of Corah said, Hath {fa™: 
G-od spoken alone to Moses ? Why is it that he hath given the 
high priesthood to Aaron alone ? Is not all the congrega- {i£™\ 
tion of the Lord holy ? And why is Aaron alone possessed of the 
priesthood ? And, before this, one said, Who made thee a {£ x |g; 
ruler and a judge over us ? 



* Sheba, in the original Hebrew, and in the English version of 2 Sam. 20: 1, &c. 
But copies of the Greek version (which, it will he recollected, was used by the writer J 
exhibit some variety in the expression of this name. How it came to be as in the text, 
we can only conjecture. — C. 



132 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 



III. 

Concerning the virtue of Moses, and the incredulity of the Jewish 
nation, and what wonderful works G-od did among them. 



Nam 
12 



And they raised a sedition against Moses, the servant of God, 
™\} the meekest of all men, and faithful, and affronted so great a 
man with the highest ingratitude ; him who was their lawgiver, and 
guardian, and high priest, and king, the administrator of divine 
things ; one that showed, as a creator, the mighty works of the 
Creator ; the meekest man, freest from arrogance, and full of forti- 
tude, and most benign in his temper ; one who had delivered them 
from many dangers, and freed them from several deaths by his 
holiness ; who had done so many signs and wonders from God before 
the people, and had performed glorious and wonderful works for 
their benefit ; who had brought the ten plagues upon the Egyp- 
E £L d - } tians ; who had divided the Red Sea, and had separated the 
waters as a wall on this side and on that side, and had led the 
people through them, as through a dry wilderness, and had drowned 
5f°25.} Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and all that were in company 
with them, and had made the fountain sweet for them with wood, 
nfe.'} and had brought water out of the abrupt rock for them 
16. } when they were thirsty, and had given them manna out of 
heaven, and had distributed flesh to them out of the air, and had 
y*°& \ afforded them a pillar of fire in the night to enlighten and 
conduct them, and a pillar of a cloud to shadow them in the day, on 
^fi d - } account of the violent heat of the sun, and had exhibited 
to them the Law of Grod, engraven from the mouth, and hand, and 
writing of God, in tables of stone, the perfect number of ten com- 
li xo ii.} mandments ; to whom God spake face to face, as if a man 
34 eu io.} spake to his friend ; of whom he said, And there arose not 
a Prophet like unto Moses. Against him arose the followers of 
ffifi.} Corah, and the Reubenites, and threw stones at Moses, 
16: is.} who prayed and said, Accept not thou their offering. And 
the glory of God appeared, and sent some down into the earth, and 
burnt up others with fire ; and so as to those ringleaders of this 
iFi } schismatical error, who said, Let us make ourselves a leader, 
the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their tents, 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 133 

and what appertained to them : and they went down alive into hell. 
Moreover, he destroyed the followers of Corah with fire. 



IV. 

That he maketh schism, not who separateth himself from the wicked, 
but who departeth from the godly. 

If, therefore, God inflicted punishment immediately on those that 
made a schism on account of their ambition, how much rather will 
he do it upon those who are the leaders of impious heresies ! Will 
he not inflict severer punishment on those that blaspheme his provi- 
dence or his creation ? But do ye, brethren, who are instructed 
out of the Scripture, take care not to make divisions in opinion, 
nor divisions in your unity. For those who set up unlawful opin- 
ions are harbingers of perdition to the people. In like manner, 
ye of the laity, come not near such as advance doctrines contrary 
to the mind of God, nor be ye partakers of their impiety. For, 
saith God, Separate yourselves from the midst of these men, {u™\. 
lest ye perish together with them,. And again, Depart from { g. ^; 
the midst of them, and separate yourselves, saith the Lord, and 
touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. 



V. 

On what account Israel, falsely so named, is rejected, — a demon- 
stration from the prophetic predictions. 

For those most certainly are to be avoided who blaspheme God. 
The greatest part of the ungodly, indeed, are ignorant of God ; but 
these men, as fighters against God, are possessed with a wilful, evil 
disposition, as with a disease. For from the wickedness of the her- 
etics, Pollution is gone out upon all the land, as saith the {23^15. 
prophet Jeremiah. Accordingly, the wicked synagogue is now cast 
off by the Lord God, and his house is rejected by him, as he some- 
where saith, I have forsaken my house ; I have left mine { $% 
inheritance. And again, saith Isaiah, I will neglect my {H??' 



134 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

vineyard, and it shall not be pruned nor digged, and thorns shall 
spring up upon it, as upon a desert ; and I tvill command the clouds 
isaiah, | thai ^y ra i n no ra { n U p 0n it. He hath therefore left his 
people, as a tent in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cu- 
cumbers, and as a besieged city. He hath taken away from them 
the Holy Spirit, and the prophetic rain, and hath replenished his 
church with spiritual grace, as the river of Egypt in the time of 
first-fruits ; and hath exceedingly exalted it, as a house upon a hill, 
IiTw.} or as a high mountain ; as a mountain swelling into emi- 
nences, and fertile ; in tvhich it hath pleased God to dwell ; yea, 
the Lord will establish his habitation there for ever. And he saith in 
i7: e i2.} Jeremiah, Our sanctuary is an exalted throne of glory; 
Is 2 f| h '} and he saith in Isaiah, And it shall come to pass in the last 
days, that the mountain of the Lord shall be glorious ; and the 
house of the Lord shall be upon the top of the mountains, and shall 
be exalted above the hills. 

Since, therefore, he hath forsaken his people, he hath also left 
his temple desolate, and rent the veil of the temple, and took from 
^•Ss.} them the Holy Spirit. For saith he, Behold, your house is 
left unto you desolate ; and he hath bestowed upon you, the con- 
^°f|; } verted of the Gentiles, spiritual grace ; as he saith by Joel, 
And it shall come to pass, after these things, saith God, that I will 
pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh ; and your sons shall prophesy, 
and your daughters shall see visions, and your old men shall dream 
dreams. For God hath taken away all the power and efficacy of 
his word, and such like visitations, from that people, and hath trans- 
ferred them to you, the converted of the Gentiles. On this account, 
the devil, being very angry at the holy church of God, hath betaken 
himself to you, and hath raised against you afflictions, persecutions, 
seditions, reproaches, schisms, heresies. For he had before subdued 
that people to himself, by their slaying of Christ. But you, who 
have left his vanities, he tempteth in different ways, as he did the 
sTl } blessed Job. And, indeed, he opposed that great high 
22: u a!:} priest, Joshua, the son of Josedek ; and he sometimes 
sought to sift us, that our faith might fail. But our Lord and 
ZjfJ; } Master, having brought him to trial, said to him, The Lord 
rebuke thee, Satan, even the Lord who hath chosen Jerusalem, 
rebuke thee. Is not this plucked out of the fire, as a brand? And 
he who then said to those that stood by the high priest, Take atvay 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 135 

his ragged garments from him, and added, Behold, I have taken 
thine iniquities away from thee, — he will now say, as he formerly 
said of us, when we were assembled together, I have prayed {22*32: 
that your faith may not fail. 



VI. 

That even among the Jews there arose the doctrine of several here- 
sies, hateful to God. 

Verily, even the Jewish nation had wicked heresies ; for of them 
were the Sadducees, who do not confess the resurrection of the 
dead ; and the Pharisees, who ascribe the practice of sinners to for- 
tune and fate ; and the Basmotheans, who deny Providence, and 
say, that the world is made by spontaneous motion, and take away 
the immortality of the soul ; and the Hemerobaptists, who, every 
day, unless they bathe, do not eat ; nay, unless they cleanse their 
couches, and tables, or platters, and cups, and seats, do not make 
use of any of them ; and those who have recently appeared in our 
time, the Ebionites, who will have the Son of God to be a mere 
man, begotten by human pleasure and the conjunction of Joseph and 
Mary. There are also the Essenes, who separate themselves from 
all these, and observe the laws of their fathers. 

The sects, then, which have been mentioned, arose among the 
former people. And now, the evil one, who is wise to do mischief, 
and never knoweth to do any good whatever, hath overcome some 
from among us, and by them hath wrought heresies and schisms. 



VII. 

Whence the heresies sprang, and who was the ringleader of their 

impiety. 

Now, the origin of the new heresies was thus : The devil entered 
into one Simon, of the village called Gitthae, a Samaritan, by pro- 
fession a magician, and made him the minister of his wicked design. 
For when Philip, our fellow-apostle, by the gift of the Lord, {$t£- 



136 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

and the energy of his Spirit, performed the miracles of healing in 
Samaria, so that the Samaritans were astonished, and embraced the 
faith of the God of the universe, and of the Lord Jesus, and were 
baptized into his name ; and when already Simon, also himself, seeing 
the signs and wonders which were done without any magic ceremo- 
nies, fell into admiration, and believed, and was baptized, and con- 
tinued in fasting and prayer, we heard of the grace of God, which 
was among the Samaritans, by Philip, and came down to them ; 
and, enlarging much upon the word of doctrine, we laid our hands 
upon all that were baptized, and we conferred upon them the par- 
ticipation of the Spirit. 

But when Simon saw that the Spirit was given to believers by 
the imposition of our hands, he took money, and offered it to us, 
saying, Give me also the power, that on whomsoever I also shall lay 
my hand, he may receive the Holy Ghost ; being desirous that, as 
the devil deprived Adam, by the tasting of the tree, of that immor- 
tality which was promised, so also he might entice us by the re- 
ceiving of money, and thereby cut us off from the gift of God, that 
so by exchange we might give away to him, for money, the inesti- 
mable gift of the Spirit. But, as we were all troubled at this offer, 
I, Peter, with a fixed attention on that malicious serpent which was 
in him, said to Simon, Let thy money go with thee to perdition, 
because thou hast thought to purchase the gift of God with money. 
Thou hast no part in this matter, nor lot in this faith ; for thy heart 
is not right in the sight of God. Repent, therefore, of this thy 
wickedness, and pray to the Lord, if perhaps the thought of thy heart 
may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of 
bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. But then Simon was terri- 
fied, and said, I entreat you, pray ye to the Lord for me, that none 
of those things which ye have spoken come upon me. 



VIII. 

Who were the successors of Simon's impiety, and what heresies they 

set up. 

But when we went forth among the Gentiles, to preach the word 
of life, then the devil wrought in the people to send after us false 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 137 

apostles, to the corrupting of the word ; and they sent forth one 
Cleobius, and joined him with Simon ; and these became disciples to 
one Dositheus, whom they, having surpassed, thrust away from 
being the leader. Afterwards, also, others were the authors of 
absurd doctrines : Cerinthus, and Marcus, and Menander, and Ba- 
silides, and Saturnilus.* Of these, some own the doctrine of many 
gods ; some, only of three, but contrary to each other, without be- 
ginning, and ever with one another ; and some, of gods infinite in 
number, and unknown. And some reject marriage, thinking that 
it is not the appointment of God ; others abhor some kinds of food ; 
and some are impudent in uncleanness, such as those who are falsely 
called Nicolaitans. 

But Simon, indeed, meeting me, Peter, first at Csesarea of Strato 
(where the faithful Cornelius, a Gentile, believed on the Lord Jesus 
by me) , endeavored to pervert the word of God ; there being with 
me the holy children, Zaccheus, who was once a publican ; and Bar- 
nabas, and Nicetas, and Aquila, who were brethren, and Clement, 
the Bishop and citizen of Rome, who was the disciple of Paul, our 
fellow-apostle and fellow-helper in the Gospel. I thrice discoursed 
before them, with him, concerning the true prophet, and concerning 
the monarchy of God ; and when I had overcome him by the power 
of the Lord, and had put him to silence, I drove him away into 
Italy. 



IX. 

How Simon, desiring to fly by some magical arts, fell down head- 
long from on high, at the prayers of Peter, and broke his feet, 
and hands, and ankle-bones. 

Now, when he was in Rome, he mightily disturbed the church, 
and subverted many, and brought them over to himself, and aston- 
ished the Gentiles with his skill in magic ; insomuch that once, in 
the middle of the day, he went into their theatre, and commanded 
the people that I also be brought into the theatre, and promised 



* It is probable that the person intended to he mentioned here was Saturnisms, of 
Antioch. He was contemporary with Basilides, of Alexandria. Both flourished 
about the year of our Lord 125. — C. 



138 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

that he would fly in the air. And when all the people were in sus- 
pense at this, I prayed by myself. And indeed he was carried up 
into the air by demons, and flew on high in the air, saying that he 
was returning into heaven, and that he would supply them with good 
things from thence. And the people making acclamations to him, 
as to a god, I stretched out my hands to heaven, with my mind, and 
besought God, through the Lord Jesus, to throw down this pestilent 
fellow, and to destroy the power of those demons who made use of 
it for the seduction and perdition of men ; to dash him against the 
ground, and bruise him, but not to kill him. And then, fixing my 
eyes on Simon, I said to him, If I be a man of God, and a real 
apostle of Jesus Christ, and a teacher of piety, and not of deceit, as 
thou art, Simon, I command those wicked powers of the apostate 
from piety, by ivhich Sim,on the magician is carried, to let go their 
hold, that he may fall down headlong from his height, and be ex- 
posed to the laughter of those who have been seduced by him. 

When I had said these words, Simon was deprived of his powers, 
and fell down headlong with a great noise, and was violently dashed 
against the ground, and had his hip and ankle-bones broken. And 
the people cried out, saying, There is one G-od only, whom Peter 
rightfully preacheth in truth. And many left him ; but some, who 
were worthy of perdition, continued in his wicked doctrine. And 
thus this most atheistical heresy was fixed in Rome. The devil 
wrought also by the rest of the false apostles. 



Sow the Seresies differ from each other, and from the truth. 

But all these had one and the same design of atheism, to blas- 
pheme Almighty God, to spread their doctrine, that he is an 
unknown Being, and not the Father of Christ, nor the Creator of 
the world ; but one who cannot be spoken of, ineffable, not to be 
named, and begotten by himself ; that we are not to make use of 
the Law and the Prophets ; that there is no Providence ; that we 
are not to believe in a resurrection ; that there is no judgment nor 
retribution ; that the soul is not immortal ; that we must indulge 
only our pleasures, and turn to any sort of worship without dis- 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 139 

tinction. Some of them say that there are many gods ; some, 
that there are three gods without beginning ; some, that there are 
two unbegotten gods ; some, that there are innumerable aeons. 
And some of them teach that men are not to marry, and must 
abstain from flesh and wine, affirming that marriage, and the beget- 
ting of children, and the eating of certain foods, are abominable ; 
that so, as sober persons, they may make their wicked opinions to 
be received as worthy of belief. But some of them prohibit the 
eating of flesh, as being the flesh, not of irrational animals, but of 
creatures that have a rational soul, and as if those that ventured to 
slay them would be charged with the crime of murder. Others of 
them, however, affirm that we must abstain only from swine's flesh, 
but may eat such kinds as are clean by the Law ; and that we 
ought to be circumcised, according to the Law, and to believe in 
Jesus, as in a holy man and a prophet. But others teach men to 
be impudent in uncleanness, and to abuse the flesh, and to go 
through all unholy practices, as if this were the only way for the 
soul to avoid the rulers of this world. Now all these are the instru- 
ments of the devil, and the children of wrath. 



XI. 

An exposition of Apostolic preaching. 

But we, who are the children of God and the sons of peace, 
preach the holy and right word of piety, and declare one God 
only, the Lord of the Law and of the Prophets, the Maker of the 
world, the Father of Christ ; not a being that caused himself or 
begat himself, as they suppose, but eternal, and without origin, and 
dwelling in light inaccessible ; not second, or third, or one of many, 
but the only one eternally ; not unknown, or that must not be 
spoken of, but that was preached by the Law and the Prophets ; the 
Almighty, the Supreme Governor of all things, having authority 
over all ; the God and Father of the Only-begotten, and of the 
First-born of the whole creation ; one God, the Father of one Son, 
not of many ; the Source sending forth one Comforter by Christ : 
the Maker of the other orders, the one Creator of the several 
creatures by Christ, the same their preserver and legislator by him ; 



•J 



140 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

the author of the resurrection and of the judgment, and of the 
retribution which shall be made by him ; and that this Son himself 
was pleased to become man, and lived among men without sin, and 
suffered, and rose from the dead, and returned to Him that sent 
him. 

We also say that every creature of God is good, and nothing 
abominable ; that every thing for the support of life, when par- 
taken of righteously, is excellent. For, according to the Scrip- 
Safc } ture, all things ivere very good. We believe that lawful 
marriage, and the begetting of children, is honorable and undefiled ; 
for difference of sexes in Adam and Eve was formed for the in- 
crease of mankind. We abhor all unlawful mixtures, and that 
which is practised by some against nature, as wicked and im- 
pious. 

We acknowledge a soul within us, incorporeal and immortal ; not 
corruptible, as bodies are, but immortal, as being rational and 
free. 

We profess that there will be a resurrection, both of the just and 
of the unjust, and a retribution. 

We profess that Christ is not a mere man, but God the Word 
and man, the Mediator between God and man, the High Priest of 
the Father. Nor are we circumcised with the Jews ; since we 
4? : e i6.} know that he is come to ivhom it was reserved, and on 
whose account the families were kept distinct, — the expectation of 
the G-entiles, Jesus Christ, who sprang out of Judah, the Son from 
I ii : ia i! , S the Branch, the Flower from Jesse, whose government is 
9= 6. } upon his shoulder. 

XII. 

To those that confess Christ, but are desirous to Judaize. 

But because this heresy seemed then to be the more powerful to 
\b!\. } seduce men, and the whole church was in danger, we, the 
Lis-} Twelve, being assembled at Jerusalem (for Matthias was 
chosen to be an apostle, in the room of the betrayer, and took the 
lot of Judas, as it is said, His bishopric let another take), deli- 
berated, together with James the Lord's brother, what was to be 
done ; and it seemed good to him, and to the elders, to speak to 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 141 

the people words of doctrine. For certain men went down from 
Judea to Antioch, and taught the brethren who were there, saying, 
Unless ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, and \ f^\ 
walk according to the other customs which he ordained, ye cannot 
be saved. 

There having been, therefore, no small dissension and disputation, 
the brethren who were at Antioch, when they knew that we were 
all met together about this question, sent forth unto us men who were 
faithful and understanding in the Scriptures, to learn concerning 
this question. And these, when they were come to Jerusalem, 
declared to us what questions had arisen in the church of Antioch ; 
namely, that some said, Men ought to be circumcised, and to observe 
the other purifications. 

And when some said one thing, and some another, I, Peter, stood 
up, and said to them, Men and brethren, ye know how { j^f 
that from ancient days God made choice among you that the Gen- 
tiles should hear the Word of the Gospel by my mouth, and be- 
lieve ; and God, who knoweth the hearts, bare them witness. For 
an angel of the Lord appeared on a certain time to Cornelius, who 
was a centurion of the Roman government, and spake to him con- 
cerning me, that he should send for me, and hear the word of life 
from my mouth. He therefore sent for me from Joppa to Csesarea 
of Strato ; and when I was ready to go to him, I would have eaten ; 
and while they made ready, I was in the upper room praying, and I 
saw heaven opened, and a vessel, knit at the four corners like a 
splendid sheet, let down to the earth, wherein were all manner 
of four-footed beasts, and creeping things of the earth, and fowls of 
the heaven. And there came a voice out of heaven to me, saying, 
Arise, Peter, kill and eat. And I said, By no means, {loti?- 
Lord ; for I have never eaten any thing common or unclean. And 
there came a voice a second time, saying, What God hath cleansed, 
that call not thou common. And this was done thrice; and the 
vessel was received up again into heaven. But as I doubted what 
this vision should mean, the Spirit said to me, Behold, men seek 
thee. But rise up, and go with them, nothing doubting ; for I 
have sent them. 

These men were those who came from the centurion, and so by 
reasoning I understood the word of the Lord, which is written, 
Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be {i?f<i. 



142 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

21*28.} saved. And again, All the ends of the earth shall remem- 
ber, and turn unto the Lord, and all the families of the Heathen 
shall worship before him ; for the kingdom is the Lord's, and he is 
the G-overnor of the nations. And observing that there were expres- 
sions everywhere concerning the calling of the Gentiles, I rose up, 
and went with them, and entered into the man's house. And while 
lifis.} I was preaching the word, the Holy Spirit fell on him, and 
on those that were with him, as it did on us at the beginning ; 
j|f|'} and he put no difference betiveen us and them, purifying 
io: 34. \ their hearts by faith. And I perceived that God is no re- 
specter of persons, but that in every nation he that feareth him, 
and worketh righteousness, will be accepted with him. But even 
i of 45'.} ih e believers, who were of the circumcision, were aston- 
15: io.} ished at this. Wow, therefore, why tempt ye God to lay a 
heavy yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither we nor our 
li? ii. } fathers were able to bear ? But ive believe that, through the 
grace of the Lord, we shall be saved even as they. For the Lord 
hath loosed us from our bonds, and hath made our burden light, and 
hath loosed the heavy yoke from us by his clemency. 

While I spake these things, the whole multitude kept silence. 
lsVi*-} B u t James, the Lord's brother, answered and said, Men and 
brethren, hearken unto me. Simeon hath declared hoiv God at first 
visited to take out a people from the Gentiles to his name. And 
to this agree the words of the prophets, as it is ivritten, After- 
i™iil} wards I will return, and will raise again and rebuild the 
tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will rebuild its 
ruins, and will again set it up, that the residue of men may seek 
after the Lord, and all the nations upon whom my name is called, 
saith the Lord, who doeth these things. Known unto God are all 
his works from the beginning of the world. Wlierefore my sentence 
is, that we do not trouble those who from among the Gentiles turn 
unto God ; but that we write to them that they abstain from the 
pollutions of the Gentiles, and from what is sacrificed to idols, and 
from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication. 
Which laws were given to the ancients, who lived before the Law, 
under the law of nature, Enos, Enoch, Noah, Melchisedek, Job, and 
if there be any other of the same sort. 

Then it seemed good to us, the apostles, and to James the 
15^ & } bishop, and to the elders, with the whole church, to send men 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 143 

chosen from among our own selves, with Barnabas and Paul of Tar- 
sus, the apostle of the Gentiles, and Judas, who was called Barsabbas, 
and Silas, chief men among the brethren ; and we wrote by their 
hand as followeth : The Apostles and Elders to the brethren who are 
of the Crentiles in Antioch, and Syria, and Cilicia, send greeting. 
Since we have heard that some from us have troubled you with words, 
subverting your souls, to whom ive gave no such commandment, 
it hath seemed good to us, when we were met together with one 
accord, to send chosen men to you, with our beloved Barnabas and 
Paul, men who have hazarded their lives for our Lord Jesus Christ, 
and by whom ye sent unto us. We have sent also ivith them Judas 
and Silas, who shall themselves declare the same things by mouth. 
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay no other 
burden upon you than these necessary things : that ye abstain from 
things offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, 
and from fornication. From which things, if ye keep yourselves, ye 
shall do well. Fare ye well. 

We accordingly sent this epistle ; but we ourselves remained in 
Jerusalem many days, consulting together for the public benefit, 
for the well ordering of all things. 



XIII. 

That we must separate from Heretics. 

But after a long time we visited the brethren, and confirmed 
them with the word of piety, and charged them to avoid those who, 
under the name of Christ and Moses, war against Christ and Moses, 
and in the clothing of sheep hide the wolf. For these are false 
Christs, and false prophets, and false apostles ; deceivers and cor- 
rupters, portions of foxes, the destroyers of the herbs of the vine- 
yards ; for whose sake the love of many will wax cold. {U^ii 
But he that endureth steadfast to the end, the same shall be {afc 13. 
saved. Concerning whom, that he might secure us, the Lord de- 
clared, saying, There will come to you men in sheep's {J?*"' 
clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know 
them by their fruits. Beware of them. F or false Christs \ 24*24. 
and false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many. { 24-. 5. 



144 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 



XIV. 

Who were the preachers of the Catholic Doctrine, and which are 
the commandments given by them. 

On whose account, also, we who are now assembled in one place, 
— Peter and Andrew, James and John, sons of Zebedee, Philip 
and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, 
and Lebbeus who was surnamed Thaddeus, and Simon the Cana- 
nite, and Matthias, who, instead of Judas, was numbered with us ; 
James the brother of the Lord, and Bishop of Jerusalem, and Paul 
the teacher of the Gentiles, the chosen vessel, — all being present, 
have written to you this Catholic Doctrine, for the confirmation of 
you to whom the oversight of the church universal is committed ; 
wherein we declare to you that there is only one God Almighty, 
besides whom there is no other ; and that ye must worship and 
adore him only, through Jesus Christ our Lord, in the most Holy 
Spirit ; that ye are to make use of the Sacred Scriptures, the Law 
and the Prophets ; to honor your parents ; to avoid all unlawful 
actions ; to believe in the resurrection and the judgment, and to 
expect the retribution ; and to use all his creatures with thankful- 
ness, as the works of God, and having no evilrln them ; and to 
marry after a lawful manner, for such marriage is unblamable. 
i?r°i4. } For the woman is suited to the man by the Lord. And 
i<jf£ } the Lord saith, He that made them from the beginning 
made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man 
leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and 
they two shall be one flesh. Nor let it be esteemed lawful after 
marriage to put her away who is without blame. For, saith he, 
If is. } Thou shalt take heed to thy spirit, and shalt not forsake the 
wife of thy youth ; for she is the partner of thy life, and the 
%. & il } remains of thy spirit. I, and no other, have made her. For 
J5?£ } the Lord saith, What God hath joined together let not man 
put asunder. 

For the wife is the partner of life, united by God into one body 
from two. But he that divide th that again into two, which is 
become one, is the enemy of the creation of God, and the adversary 
of his providence. In like manner, he that retaineth her that is 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 145 

corrupted, is a transgressor of the law of nature ; since he {if^; 
that retaineth an adulteress is foolish and wicked. For the Scrip- 
ture saith, Out her off from thy flesh ; for she is not a help, {SfS 
but a snare, bending her mind from thee to another. 

Nor be ye circumcised in your flesh ; but let the circumcision 
which is of the heart by the spirit suffice for the faithful. For the 
Scripture saith, Be ye circumcised to your God ; and cir- {^J; 
cumcise the foreskin of your hearts. 



XV. 

That we ought neither to rebaptize, nor to receive that baptism 
which is given by the zvicked ; which is not baptism, but pollution. 

Be ye likewise contented with one baptism alone, that which is 
into the death of the Lord ; not that which is conferred by wicked 
heretics, but that which is conferred by unblamable priests in the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Crhost ; { 2 ? : a i9. 
and let not that which cometh from the ungodly be received by you, 
nor let that which is done by the godly be annulled by a second. 
For as there is one God, one Christ, and one Comforter, and one 
death of the Lord in the body, so let the baptism which is given 
into that death be one. But those that receive polluted baptism 
from the ungodly, will become partners in their opinions. For they 
are not priests; for God saith to them, Because thou hast {Jf°|; 
rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee from the office of a priest 
to me. Nor indeed are those that are baptized by them initiated, 
but polluted ; not receiving the remission of sins, but the bond of 
impiety. And besides, they that attempt to rebaptize those who are 
already initiated, crucify the Lord afresh ; slay him a second time ; 
laugh at divine and ridicule holy things ; affront the Spirit ; dis- 
honor the sacred blood of Christ, as common blood ; are impious 
against Him that sent, Him that suffered, and Him that witnessed. 

But also he that, out of contempt, will not be baptized, shall be 
condemned as an unbeliever, and shall be reproached as ungrateful 
and foolish. For the Lord saith, Except a man be bap- \ J* h 5 n ' 
tized of ivater and of the Spirit, he shall by no means enter into the 
kingdom of heaven. And again, He that believeth, and is {ijjfig; 
baptized, shall be saved ; hit he that believeth not shall be damned. 
10 



146 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

But he that saith, When I am dying, I will be baptized, lest I should 
sin, and defile my baptism, is ignorant of God, and forgetful of his 
Pro?? 1 ??:" i 5 . : & 23.} °wn nature. For, Belay not to tarn unto the Lord; 
for thou Jcnowest not what the next day will bring forth. 

Moreover, baptize your children, and bring them up in the nur- 
ture and admonition of God. For the Saviour saith, Suffer the 
i^ a ?i.} little children to come unto me, and forbid them not. 



XVI. 

Concerning books with false inscriptions. 

We have written all these things to you, that ye may know our 
decree, what it is ; and that ye may not receive those books which 
have been fabricated in our name by the ungodly. For ye are not 
to attend to the names of the apostles, but to the nature of the things, 
and the correct decision. For we know that Simon and Cleobius, and 
their followers, have compiled poisonous books under the name of 
Christ and of his disciples, and carry them about in order to deceive 
you who love Christ and us his servants. And among the ancients, 
also, some have written apocryphal books of Moses, and Enoch, and 
Adam, and Isaiah, and David, and Elias, and of the three patri- 
archs ; pernicious, and repugnant to the truth. And such things 
now have the wicked heretics done ; reproaching the creation, mar- 
riage, providence, the begetting of children, the law, and the 
prophets ; inscribing certain barbarous names, and, as they think, 
of angels, but, to speak the truth, of demons, who suggest things to 
them : whose doctrine eschew, that ye may not be partakers of the 
punishment due to those who write such things for the seduction and 
perdition of the faithful and unblamable disciples of the Lord Jesus. 



XVII. 

Matrimonial precepts concerning Clergymen. 



We have said that a Bishop, and a Presbyter, and a Deacon 
Titus, 3 ! :V 2 } when they are constituted, must be but once married. 



1 Tim. 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 147 

whether their wives be alive, or whether they be dead ; and that it 
is not lawful for them, if they be unmarried when they are ordained, 
to be married afterwards ; or if they be then already married, to be 
married a second time ; but that they should be content with the 
wife whom they had when they came to ordination. 

We also command that the Attendants, and the Singers, and the 
Readers, and the Porters, be only once married. But if they 
entered into the clergy before they were married, we permit them 
to marry, if they have an inclination thereto, lest they sin, and incur 
punishment. 

But we do not permit any one of the clergy to marry a prostitute, 
or a slave, or a widow, or one that is divorced ; as also saith {21^7^14. 
the Law. 

Let the Deaconess be a pure virgin, or, at the least, a widow who 
hath been but once married, faithful, and well-esteemed. 



XVIII. 

An exhortation commanding to avoid the communion of the impious 

Heretics. 

Receive ye the penitent ; for this is the will of God in Christ. 
Instruct the catechumens in the elements of religion, and then bap- 
tize them. Eschew the atheistical Heretics, who are past repent- 
ance, and separate them from the faithful, and excommunicate them 
from the church of God ; and charge the faithful to abstain entirely 
from them, and not to partake with them either in sermons or in pray- 
ers. For these men are enemies to the church, and lay snares for 
it ; men who corrupt the flock, and defile the heritage of Christ ; 
pretenders only to wisdom, and wholly depraved : concerning whom 
Solomon the Wise said, The wicked doers pretend to act piously. 
For, saith he, There is away which seemeth light to some, {\™li. 
hut the ends thereof look to the bottom of hell. These are they con- 
cerning whom the Lord declared his mind with bitterness and 
severity, saying that they are false Christs and false {il &t 2i. 
prophets, who have blasphemed the Spirit of grace, and done despite 
to the gift from him, after the grace [of baptism] ; to whom {^ l k. 
forgiveness shall not be granted, neither in this tvorld, nor in that 



148 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

ivhich is to come ; who are both more wicked than the Jews, and 
more atheistical than the Gentiles ; who blaspheme the God over 
all, and tread under foot his Son, and do despite to the doctrine of 
the Spirit ; who deny the words of God, or pretend hypocritically to 
receive them, to the affronting of God, and the deceiving of those 
that come among them ; who abuse the Holy Scriptures, and, as for 
righteousness, know not what it is ; who spoil the church of God, as 
ffitk } the Utile foxes do the vineyards ; whom we exhort you to 
avoid, lest ye lay traps for your own souls. 

i?f 2o". } Indeed, He that walheth with wise men shall be ivise ; but 
he that walketh ivith the foolish shall be known. For we ought 
neither to run along with a thief, nor put in our lot with an adul- 
iSfcsL} terer > sm ce holy David saith, Lord, I have hated them 
that hate thee ; and I am withered away on account of thine enemies. 
iH? 22. } I hated them with a perfect hatred : they were to me as ene- 
2 ST 1 *} rnies. And God reproacheth Jehosaphat with his friend- 
ship towards Ahab, and his league with him, and with Ahaziah, by 
the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, saying, Art thou in friend- 
ship ivith a sinner? or dost thou aid him that is hated by the Lord? 
For this cause the wrath of the Lord ivould be upon thee suddenly, 
2 2o?3°7?i but that thy heart is found perfect with the Lord. For 
this cause the Lord hath spared thee. Yet are thy works shattered, 
and thy ships broken to pieces. 

Eschew, therefore, their fellowship, and be estranged from peace 
with them. For concerning them the prophet declared, saying, 
Bf 21.' } It i s n °t lawful to rejoice with the ungodly, saith the Lord. 
56: io. } For these are hidden wolves, dumb dogs that cannot bark ; 
who at present are but few, but in process of time, when the end of 
the world draweth nigh, they will be more in number and more 
is??.' } troublesome ; concerning whom the Lord said, Will the 
Son of man, when he cometh, find faith on the earth ? And, 
24: a i2. \ Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax 
24:24.} cold. And, There shall come false Christs and false 
prophets, and shall show signs in heaven, so as, if it were possible, 
to deceive even the elect; — but from their deceit God, through Jesus 
Christ, who is our hope, will deliver us. 

And indeed, as we passed through the nations and confirmed the 
churches, curing some with much exhortation and with healing dis- 
course, we brought them back when they were in the certain way to 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 149 

death. But those that were incurable we cast out from the flock, 
that they might not infect with their scabby disease the lambs which 
were sound ; but that these might continue before the Lord God 
pure and undefiled, sound and unspotted. And this we did in every 
city, everywhere through the whole world, and have left to you the 
Bishops, and to the rest of the Priests, this catholic doctrine worthily 
and righteously, as a memorial of confirmation to those who have 
believed in God; and we have sent it by our fellow-minister Clem- 
ent, our most faithful and like-minded son in the Lord, together with 
Barnabas, and Timothy our most dearly beloved son, and the gen- 
uine Mark. Together with whom we recommend to you also Titus, 
and Luke, and Jason, and Lucius, and Sosipater ; by whom {u^i. 
also we exhort you in the Lord to abstain from your old manner of 
life, vain bonds, separations, observances, distinction of meats, and 
daily washings. For old things are passed away ; behold, { IpfJ; 
all things are become new. 



XIX. 

To those ivho speak evil of the Law. 

For since ye have known God, through Jesus Christ, and all his 
dispensation, as it hath been from the beginning ; that he gave a 
plain Law to assist the law of nature, such a one as is pure, {^fo. 1 
salutary, and holy, in which he inscribed his own name ; per- { Yi?s. 
feet, unfailing, complete in ten commands, unspotted, converting 
souls ; which when the Hebrews forgot, he put them in {^If™ 
mind of it by the prophet Malachi, saying, Remember ye { f & \\ 
the Law of Moses, the man of God, ivho gave you in charge com- 
mandments and ordinances. Which Law is so very holy and right- 
eous, that even our Saviour, when on a certain time he healed one 
leper, and afterwards nine, said to the first, Go, show {mIa\i\u. 
thyself to the high priest, and offer the gift which Moses com- 
manded, for a testimony unto them ; and afterwards to the nine, 
Go, show yourselves to the priests. {vhu. 

For nowhere hath he abrogated the Law, as Simon pretendeth, 
but he hath fulfilled it ; for he saith, One jot or one tittle { Jf a $; 
shall not pass from the laiv, until all be fulfilled. For, saith he, 



150 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

f, a ij\} I came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. And indeed 
Moses himself, who was at once the lawgiver and the high priest, 
and the prophet and the king, and Elias, the zealous follower of 
the prophets, were present at our Lord's transfiguration on the 
mountain, and witnesses of his incarnation and of his sufferings, as 
the friends and familiars of Christ, but not as enemies and strangers. 
Whence it is manifest that the Law is good and holy, as also the 
prophets. 



XX. 

Which is the Law of Nature, and tuhich is that afterwards intro- 
duced ; and why it was introduced. 

Now the Law is the Decalogue, which the Lord promulgated to 
E fo d } them with an audible voice, before the people made that calf 
which represented the Egyptian Apis. And the Law is righteous, 
and therefore is called the Law because its judgments are rightly 
made, according to nature ; but the followers of Simon despise it, 
supposing that they shall not be judged thereby, and so shall escape 
punishment. This Law is good, holy, not forced ; for it saith, If 
20*24!} thou wilt make me an altar, thou shalt make it of earth. It 
doth not say, Make one ; but, If thou wilt make. It doth not 
impose a necessity, but gave leave to their power as being free. 
For God needeth not sacrifices, since he is by nature above all want. 
But knowing that, as of old, Abel, beloved of God, and Noah, and 
Abraham, and those that succeeded, without being required, but 
only moved of themselves by the law of nature, offered sacrifice to 
God, out of a grateful mind ; so he now permitted the Hebrews, 
not commanding, but if they chose, permitting them ; and, if they 
offered from a right intention, showing himself pleased with their 
49 s : a i2!} sacrifices. Therefore he saith, If thou desirest to offer, do 
not offer to me as to one that needeth, for I stand in need of noth- 
ing ; for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. 

But when the people became forgetful of this, and called upon a 
calf as God, instead of the true God, and to him ascribed the cause 
32 °4! } °f their coming out of Egypt, saying, These are thy gods, 
Israel, who have brought thee out of the land of Egypt ; and 
when these men had committed wickedness with the similitude of a 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 151 

calf that eateth hay, and denied God, who had visited them by 
Moses, in their afflictions, and had done signs with his hand and rod, 
and had smitten the Egyptians with ten plagues ; who had divided 
the waters of the Red Sea into two parts ; who had led them in the 
midst of the water, as a horse upon the plain ; who had drowned 
their enemies, and those that lay in wait for them ; who, at Marah, 
had made sweet the bitter fountain ; who had brought water out of 
the abrupt rock, till they were satisfied ; who had overshadowed 
them with a pillar of a cloud, on account of the immoderate heat, 
and with a pillar of fire, which enlightened and guided them, when 
they knew not which way they were to go ; who gave them manna 
from heaven, and gave them quails for flesh, from the sea ; {utu. 
who gave them the Law in the mountain ; whose voice they were 
deemed worthy to hear ; him they denied, saying to Aaron, Make 
us gods who shall go before us. And they made a molten calf, and 
sacrificed to an idol. Then God was angry, as being ungratefully 
treated by them ; and he bound them with bonds which could not 
be loosed, with a mortifying burden and a hard collar, and no longer 
said, If thou makest, but Make an altar, and sacrifice per- {^flt 
petually ; for thou art forgetful and ungrateful. Offer burnt-offer- 
ings, therefore, continually, that thou mayest be mindful of me. 
For since thou hast wickedly abused thy power, I lay a necessity 
upon thee for the time to come ; and I command thee to abstain 
from certain meats ; and I ordain thee the distinction of clean 
and unclean creatures, although every creature is good, as being 
made by me. And I appoint thee several separations, purgations, 
frequent washings and sprinklings, and several times of rest ; and if 
thou neglect any of them, I determine that punishment which is 
proper to the disobedient ; that, being pressed and galled by thy 
collar, thou mayest depart from the error of polytheism, and, laying 
aside the declaration, These are thy gods, Israel, mayest be 
mindful of this, Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord ; 
and mayest hasten back again to that law which is imparted by me 
to all men naturally, That there is only one Q-od in heaven and on 
earth ; and that it is thy duty to love him with all thy heart, and all 
thy might, and all thy mind; and to fear none but him, nor to 
admit the names of other gods into thy mind, nor to let thy tongue 
utter them out of thy mouth. 



152 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

On account of the hardness of their hearts, he bound them, that 
by sacrificing, and by resting, and by purifications, and the like, 
they might come to the knowledge of God, who ordained these 
things for them. 



XXI. 

That we, ivho believe in Christ, are under grace, and not under the 
servitude of that additional Law. 

is? i6.} But blessed are your eyes, for they see ; and your ears, 
for they hear ; ye who have believed in the one God, not by neces- 
sity, but by a sound understanding, in obedience to Him that called 
you. For ye are released from the bonds, and freed from the ser- 
is? 1 !".'} vitude. For, saith he, I call you no longer servants, but 
friends ; for all things that I have heard of my Father, have I made 
known unto you. For to them that would not see nor hear, not for 
the want of those senses, but for the excess of their wickedness, I 
gave statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should 
not live ; "not good," however, in their view: as instruments for 
burning, and the knife, and medicines, are esteemed enemies by the 
sick ; and " impossible to be observed," on account of their obsti- 
nacy. Whence also those statutes brought death upon them, being 
not obeyed. 



XXII. 

That the Law for sacrifices is additional, which Christ, when he 
came, took away. 

Ye, therefore, are blessed, who are delivered from the curse ; 
for Christ, the Son of God, by his coming, hath strengthened and 
completed the Law. He hath taken away the additional precepts, 
although not all of them, yet, at least, the more grievous ones ; 
having confirmed the Law, and having caused these to cease ; and 
he hath again set free the self-government of men, not subjecting it 
to the punishment of a temporal death, but requiring an account in 
16*24.} another state. Wherefore he saith, If any man will come 
6 j0 J"; \ after me, let him come. And again, Will ye also go away f 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 153 

And, besides, before bis coming, he refused the sacrifices of the 
people, while they frequently offered them, when they sinned against 
him, and thought that he was to be appeased by sacrifices, { ffio. 
and not by repentance. For he saith thus, Why dost thou bring to 
me frankincense from Saba, and cinnamon from a remote land? 
Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices are not 
sweet to me. And afterwards, Gather your burnt-offerings \ 7 Je 2 r i. 
together, ivith your sacrifices, and eat flesh ; because I did not com- 
mand you, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt, concerning 
burntrofferhigs and sacrifices. And he saith by Isaiah, To what 
purpose do ye bring me a multitude of sacrifices ? I am fidl of the 
burnt-offerings of rams, and Iivill not accept the fat of Imnbs, and 
the blood of bulls and of goats. Nor come ye to appear before me ; 
for who hath required these things at your hands f Tread my courts 
no more. If ye bring me fine flour, it is vain. Incense is an abom- 
ination unto me. Your new moons, and your Sabbaths, and your 
great day, I cannot endure. Your fasts, and your rests, and your 
feasts, my soul hateth. I am overfull of them. And he {if 23; 
saith by another, Depart from me. The sound of thy hymns, and 
the psalms of thy musical instruments, I will not hear. And Sam- 
uel said to Saul, when he thought to sacrifice, Obedience is {\f l^?.' 
better than sacnfice ; and hearkening, than the fat of rams. For, 
behold, the Lord doth not so much delight in sacrifice, as in obeying 
him. And he saith by David, I will take no calves out of {49^9^2. 
thy house, nor he-goats out of thy flock. If I should be hungry, I 
would not tell thee ; for the ivhole world is mine, and the fulness 
thereof. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 
Sacrifice to God the sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows to the 
Most High. 

And in all the Scriptures, in like manner, he refuseth their sacri- 
fices on account of their sinning against him. For the sac- {2K7I 
rifices of the ivicked are an abomination with the Lord, since they 
offer them in an unlawful manner. And again, Their sacri- { H 9° S 4 a ' 
fices are to them as bread of lamentation. All that eat of them shall 
be defiled. If, therefore, before his coming, he sought for a clean 
heart and a contrite spirit, more than sacrifices, much rather did 
he abrogate those sacrifices, we mean those by blood, when he came. 
Yet he so abrogated them, as that he first fulfilled them. For he 
was both circumcised and sprinkled ; and he offered sacrifices and 



154 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

whole burnt-offerings ? and made use of the rest of the customs. 
And he that was the lawgiver became himself the fulfilling of the 
Law, not taking away the natural law, but abrogating those addi- 
tional precepts that were afterwards introduced, although not all of 
them. 



XXIII. 

Sow Christ became a Fulfiller of the Laiv ; and what parts of it he 
caused to cease , or changed, or transferred. 



Deut. 



For he* did not take away the law of nature, but confirmed it. For 
6: J 4**} he that said in the Law, The Lord thy G-od is one Lord, the 
it? 1 !; I same saith in the Gospel, That they might knoiv thee the only 
mib.} t rue Grod. And he that said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor 
13:34.} as thyself, saith in the Gospel, renewing the same precept, 
A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another. 
&*22'.} He who then forbade murder, now forbiddeth causeless 
anger. He that forbade adultery, now forbiddeth all unlawful lust. 
2offg.} He that forbade stealing, now pronounceth him most 
f^; } happy who, out of his own labors, supplieth the needy. He 
43, 38.} that forbade hatred, now requireth love, even towards ene- 
mies. He that limited retaliation, now requireth long-suffering, not 
as if just retaliation were an unjust thing, but because long- 
suffering is better. Nor did he make laws to destroy our natural 
2?5i.' } passions, but only to forbid the excess of them. He who 
had commanded to honor parents, was himself subject to them. 
He who commanded to keep the Sabbath, by resting thereon, for 
the sake of meditating on the laws, hath now commanded us to con- 
sider the law of creation and of providence every day, and give 
thanks to God. He abrogated circumcision, when he had himself 
49^16.? fulfilled it. For he it was to whom the inheritance was 
reserved, who was the expectation of the nations. 

5:%|m.} He who made a law for swearing rightly, and forbade 
perjury, hath now charged us not to swear at all. He hath in sev- 
eral ways changed baptism, sacrifice, the priesthood, and the divine 
service, which was confined to one place. For, instead of daily 
baptisms, he hath given only one, which is that into his death. 
Instead of one tribe, he hath appointed that, out of every nation, 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 155 

the best be ordained for the priesthood ; and that not their bodies 
be examined for blemishes, but their religion and their lives. 
Instead of a bloody sacrifice, he hath appointed that reasonable, and 
unbloody, and mystical one of his body and blood, which is per- 
formed to represent by symbols the death of the Lord. Instead of 
the divine service confined to one place, he hath commanded and 
deemed it fitting that he should be glorified from the rising {i5?£ 
of the sun even unto the going down of the same, in every { if n. 
place of his dominion. 

He did not, therefore, take away the Law from us, but the bonds. 
For concerning the Law, Moses saith, Thou shalt meditate { B e ^; 
on the word which I command thee, when thou sittest in thy house, 
and when thou risest up, and when thou ivalkest in the wag. And 
David saith, His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in { if a 2 ra 
his law will he meditate day and night. For everywhere would he 
have us subject to his laws, but not transgressors of them. For 
saith he, Blessed are the unde filed in the way, who walk in {ii&T. 
the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that search out his testimo- 
nies ; with their whole heart shall they seek him. And again, 
Blessed are we, Israel, because those things that are { J a £ 
pleasing to God are known to us. And the Lord saith, If {S h ?7. 
ye knoiv these things, happy are ye if ye do them. 



XXIV. 

That it pleased the Lord that the law of righteousness should be 
manifested also by Romans. 

Nor doth he desire that the law of righteousness should be exhib- 
ited through us only; but he is pleased that through Romans 
also it should appear and shine. For these also, when they have 
believed on the Lord, have withdrawn both from polytheism and 
from injustice ; and they approve the good, and punish the bad. 
But they hold the Jews under tribute, and do not suffer them to 
make use of their own ordinances ; — 



156 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 



XXV. 

How Cod, on account of their impiety toivards Christ, made the Jews 
captives, and placed them under tribute. 

Because, indeed, they drew servitude upon themselves volunta- 
i T 9? h i5.} rilj, when they said, We have no king but Cozsar. And, 
ii: 48. | If we do not slay Christ, all men will believe on him ; and 
the Romans ivill come, and ivill take away both our place and 
nation. And so they prophesied unwittingly ; for, indeed, the 
Gentiles have believed on him ; and they themselves have been 
deprived by the Romans of their power and of their legal worship. 
They are also forbidden to slay whom they please, and to sacrifice 
when they will. Wherefore they are accursed, not being able to 
27? 26.} perform the things commanded. For saith the Scripture, 
S !o. } Cursed is he that continueth not in all things which are 
written in the book of the law to do them. Now, it is impossible for 
them, in their dispersion, while they are among the heathen, to per- 
form all things in their law. For the divine Moses forbiddeth both 
to rear an altar out of Jerusalem, and to read the law out of the 
bounds of Judea. 

Let us therefore follow Christ, that we may inherit his blessings. 
Let us walk after the Law and the Prophets, by the Gospel. Let us 
eschew the worshippers of many gods, and the murderers of Christ, 
and the murderers of the prophets, and the wicked and atheistical 
heretics. Let us be obedient to Christ, as to our king, as having 
authority to change various constitutions, and having, as a legisla- 
tor, wisdom to make new constitutions in different circumstances ; 
yet so that everywhere the laws of nature be immutably preserved. 



XXVI. 

That we ought to avoid the heretics, as the corrupters of souls. 

Therefore, Bishops, and ye of the laity, avoid all heretics, who 
abuse the Law and the Prophets. For they are enemies to Almighty 
God, and disobey him, and do not confess Christ to be the Son of 



BOOK VI.] TH% HOLY APOSTLES. 157 

God. For the j also deny his generation according to the flesh ; 
they are ashamed of his cross ; they abuse his passion and death : 
they know not his resurrection ; they take away his generation 
before all ages. Besides, some of them are impious after another 
manner, imagining the Lord to be a mere man ; supposing him to 
consist of a soul and a body. But others of them suppose that Jesus 
himself is the God over all, and glorify him as being his own Father, 
and suppose him to be both the Son and the Comforter ; than which 
doctrines what can be more impious ? Others, again, of them refuse 
certain meats, and say that marriage, with the procreation of chil- 
dren, is evil, and the contrivance of the devil ; and, being ungodly 
themselves, they are not willing to rise again, on account of their 
wickedness. Wherefore also they ridicule the resurrection, and 
say, " We are holy people," unwilling to eat and to drink ; and 
they fancy that from the dead they shall arise, spirits without flesh, 
who shall be condemned for ever in eternal fire. Fly, therefore, 
from them, lest ye perish with them in their impieties. 



XXVII. 

Of some Jewish and Gientile observances. 



Lev. 
15. 



Now if any persons keep to the Jewish observances con- { 
cerning gonorrhoeas and nocturnal pollutions, and the lawful con- 
jugal acts ; let them tell us whether, in those hours or days when 
they undergo any such thing, they observe not to pray, or to touch 
a sacred book, or to partake of the Eucharist ? And if they own it 
to be so, it is plain that they are void of the Holy Spirit, which 
always continueth with the faithful. For concerning holy persons 
Solomon saith, That every one may prepare himself, that so { T 6 r . ^ 
when he sleepeth, it may keep him ; and when he ariseth, it may talk 
with him. 

For if thou thinkest, woman, when thou art seven days in thy 
separation, that thou art void of the Holy Spirit, then, if thou die 
suddenly, thou wilt depart void of the Spirit, and without assured 
hope in God. Or indeed thou hast the Spirit altogether insepara- 
ble, as not being in a place. And it is suitable for thee to offer 
prayer, and receive the Eucharist, and enjoy the coming of the 



158 CONSTITUTIONS OflP [BOOK VI. 

Holy Spirit, as having been guilty of no fault in this matter. For 
neither lawful mixture, nor child-bearing, nor the menstrual purga- 
tion, nor nocturnal pollution, can defile the nature of a man, or 
separate the Holy Spirit from him. Nothing but wickedness and 
unlawful practice can do that. For the Holy Spirit always abideth 
with those who are possessed of it, so long as they are worthy ; 
and those from whom it is departed, it leaveth desolate, and exposed 
to the wicked spirit. 

Now every man is filled either with the Holy or with the Un- 
clean Spirit ; and it is not possible to avoid both the one and the 
other, unless they can receive opposite spirits. For the Comforter 
hateth every lie, and the devil hateth all truth. But every one that 
is baptized agreeably to the truth is separated from the Diabolical 
Spirit, and is under the Holy Spirit ; and the Holy Spirit remaineth 
with him, so long as he is doing good, and filleth him with wisdom 
and understanding, and suffereth not the wicked spirit to approach 
him, but watcheth over his goings. 

If, therefore, woman, as thou say est, thou art, in the days of 
thy separation, void of the Holy Spirit, thou art filled with the 
unclean one ; for, by neglecting to pray and to read, thou wilt invite 
him to thee, though he were unwilling. For this spirit, if any 
other, loveth the ungrateful, the slothful, the careless, and the 
drowsy, since he himself by ingratitude was distempered with an 
evil mind, and was deprived by God of his dignity ; having chosen 
to be a devil, instead of an archangel. Wherefore, woman, eschew 
such vain words, and be ever mindful of God that created thee, and 
pray to him. For he is thy Lord, and the Lord of the universe ; 
and meditate on his laws, observing nothing superstitiously, — 
neither the natural purgation, nor lawful mixture, nor childbirth, nor 
a miscarriage, nor a blemish of the body ; since such observances 
are the vain and unreasonable inventions of foolish men. 

Neither the burial of a man, nor a dead man's bone, nor a sepul- 
chre, nor any particular sort of food, nor nocturnal pollution, can 
defile the soul of man ; but only impiety towards God, and trans- 
gression and injustice towards one's neighbor ; I mean rapine, vio- 
lence, or if there be any thing contrary to his righteousness, as 
adultery or fornication. 

Wherefore, beloved, avoid and eschew such observances ; for 
they are heathenish. For we do not abominate a dead man as the 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 159 

heathen do, since we hope that he will live again. Nor do we hate 
lawful mixture ; for it is their practice to be wicked in such things. 
For the conjunction of man and wife, if it be with righteousness, is 
agreeable to the mind of God. For he that made them at { f 9 fl 
the beginning made them male and female ; and he blessed them, 
and said, Increase and multiply, and fill the earth. If, { jjg; 
therefore, the difference of sexes was made by the will of God for 
the generation of multitudes, then must the conjunction of male and 
female be also agreeable to his mind. 



XXVIII. 

Of the love of boys, adultery, and fornication. 

But we do not say so of that mixture which is contrary to nature, 
or of any unlawful practice ; for such are enmity to God. For 
the sin of Sodom is contrary to nature, as is also that with irra- 
tional animals ; but adultery and fornication are against the Law. 
Of which vices the first-mentioned are impieties ; one of the others 
is an injustice, and the last is a sin. But none of them is without 
its punishment according to its own nature. 

For the practisers of the first sort of lewdness attempt the disso- 
lution of the world, and endeavor to make the natural course of 
things change for one that is unnatural. But those of the second 
sort, the adulterers, are unjust, by corrupting others' marriages, and 
dividing into two what God hath made one, rendering the children 
suspected, and exposing the true husband to the snares of others. 
And fornication is the destruction of one's own flesh, as it is 
done not for the procreation of children, but entirely for the sake of 
pleasure ; which is a mark of ineontinency, and not a sign of 
virtue. 

Moreover, all these things are forbidden by the Law ; for thus 
say the oracles : Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with { lsf 22. 
womankind ; for such a one is accursed ; and ye shall stone {20: 13. 
them ivith stones. They have wrought abomination. Everyone {f^'. 
that lieth with a beast, slay ye him. He hath wrought wickedness 
in his people. And if any one defile a married woman, { 2 ofi6. 
slay ye them both. They have wrought wickedness ; they { 2 ^f u 2 2. 



160 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

Sf 17.} are guilty ; let them die. And afterwards, There shall not 
be a fornicator among the sons of Israel, and there shall not be a 
fornicatress among the daughters of Israel. Thou shalt not offer 
the hire of a harlot to the Lord thy God upon the altar, nor the 
ijjjs.} price of a dog. For the vows arising from the hire of a 
harlot are not clean. 

These things the laws have forbidden ; but they have honored 
marriage, and have called it blessed ; since God hath blessed it, 
.fts'. } wno joined male and female together. And wise Solo- 
$i ii.} m on somewhere saith, A wife is suited to her husband by 
Sifs.} the Lord; and David saith, Thy wife is like a flourishing 
vine by the sides of thy house ; thy children, like olive branches 
round about thy table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that 
feareth the Lord. 

is? 4*. } Wherefore marriage is honorable, and comely, and the 
begetting of children pure ; for there is no evil in that which is 
good. Therefore neither is the natural purgation abominable before 
God, who hath ordered it to happen to women within the space of 
thirty days for their advantage and healthful state, who are more 
confined than men, as keeping usually at home in the house. Nay 
more, in the Gospel, where the woman with the perpetual purgation 
of blood touched the saving border of the Lord's garment, in hope 
of being healed, he was not angry at her, nor did he complain of her 
at all. But, on the contrary, he healed her, saying, Thy faith hath 
saved thee. When the natural purgations appear in the wives, let 
not their husbands approach them, out of regard to the children to 
be begotten ; for the Law hath forbidden it. For it saith, Thou 
i8- e i9 } % halt n °t come near thy wife when she is in her separation. 
Ezek. | ^ or indeed let them frequent their wives' company when 
they are with child. For they do this, not for the begetting of 
children, but for the sake of pleasure. Now a lover of God ought 
not to be a lover of pleasure. 



BOOK VI.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 161 



XXIX. 

How Wives ought to be subject to their own Husbands, and Hus- 
bands to love their own Wives.' 

Ye wives, be subject to jour own husbands, and have them in 
esteem, and serve them with fear and love, as holy Sarah honored 
Abraham. For she could not endure to call him by his name ; but 
called him Lord, when she said My Lord is old. In like { \^f 
manner, ye husbands, love your own wives, as your own members, 
as partners in life, and fellow-helpers for the procreation of children. 
For the Scripture saith, Rejoice with the wife of thy youth. { f^ s \ 
Let her conversation be to thee as a loving hind, and a pleasant foal ; 
let her alone guide thee, and be with thee at all times. For if thou 
be every way encompassed with her friendship, thou wilt be happy in 
her society. Love them, therefore, as your own members, as your 
very bodies ; for so it is written, The Lord hath testified { f^ 
between thee and between the ivife of thy youth. And she is thy 
partner ; and another hath not made her ; and she is the remains 
of thy spirit. And, Take ye heed to your spirit ; and forsake not 
thou the wife of thy youth. 

A husband, therefore, and a wife, when they company together 
in lawful marriage, and rise from one another, may pray without 
any observances ; and, without washing, are clean. But whoever 
corrupteth and defileth another man's wife, or is defiled with a 
harlot ; when he ariseth up from her, though he wash himself in 
the entire ocean and all the rivers, cannot be clean. 



XXX. 

That it is the custom of Jeios and Gentiles to observe natural 
purgations, and to abominate the remains of the dead; but that 
all this is contrary to Christianity. 

Be not scrupulous, therefore, about things ceremonial and natu- 
ral, as thinking that ye are defiled by them. Nor seek after 
Jewish separations, nor perpetual washings, nor purifications upon 
11 



162 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VI. 

the touch of a dead body. But, without such observances, assemble 
in the cemeteries, reading the holy books, and singing for the martyrs 
who are fallen asleep in the Lord, and for all the saints from the 
beginning of the world, and for your brethren that are asleep in the 
Lord ; and offer the acceptable Eucharist, the representation of the 
royal body of Christ, both in your churches and in the cemeteries ; 
and, at the funerals of the departed, accompany them forth with 
uSf35.} singing, if they were faithful in Christ. For, Precious in 
the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. And again, my 
nSl. } sou h return unto thy rest ; for the Lord hath done thee 
10? 7'.} good. And elsewhere, The memory of the just is with 
%i*t } encomiums. And, The souls of the righteous are in the 
hands of Crod. For those that have believed in God, although they 
are asleep, are not dead. For our Saviour saith to the Sadducees, 
22?3i.} But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have ye not 
20^38! } rea ^ that which is written, I am the G-od of Abraham, and 
f X 6 d - } the Crod of Isaac, and the Grod of Jacob ? Grod, therefore, 
is not the God of the dead, but of the living ; for all live to him. 

Wherefore of those that live with God, even the very relics are not 
4 i3?2?f} without honor. For even Elisha the prophet, after he was 
fallen asleep, raised up a dead man who had been slain by the pirates 
of Syria. For his body touched the bones of Elisha, and he arose 
and lived. Now this would not have happened, unless the body of 
g) e .\ } Elisha were holy. And chaste Joseph embraced Jacob 
STiS". I a ft er ne was deceased, upon his bed. And Moses and Jo- 
24°:%.} snua the son of Nun, carried away the relics of Joseph, and 
did not esteem this a defilement. Whence ye also, Bishops, and 
the rest, who, without such observances, touch the departed, ought 
not to think yourselves defiled. Nor abhor the relics of these per- 
sons ; but avoid such observances, for they are foolish. And adorn 
yourselves with holiness and chastity, that ye may become partakers 
of immortality, and partners of the kingdom of God, and may 
receive the promise of God, and may rest for ever, through Jesus 
Christ our Saviour. 

To him, therefore, who is able to open the ears of your hearts 
to the receiving of the oracles of God administered to you, both 
by the Gospel, and by the doctrine of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, 
who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and Herod, and died, and 
rose again from the dead ; and will come again at the end of the 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 163 

world with power and great glory, and will raise the dead, and 
put an end to this world, and distribute to every one according to 
his deserts ; to him who hath given us himself for an earnest of the 
resurrection ; who was taken up into the heavens by the power of his 
God and Father, in our sight, we having eaten and drunk with him 
for forty days after he arose from the dead ; who is sat down on the 
right hand of the throne of the majesty of Almighty God upon the 
cherubim ; to whom it was said, aS^ thou on my right hand, {fos^i. 
until I make thine enemies thy footstool; whom the most blessed 
Stephen saw standing at the right hand of power, and cried out and 
said, Behold I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man { £ C J5. 
standing at the right hand of God, as the High Priest of all the 
rational orders ; — through him, worship, and majesty, and glory, be 
given to Almighty God, both now and for ever. Amen. 



BOOK VII. 

CONCERNING DEPORTMENT, AND THE EUCHARIST, AND INITIATION 

INTO CHRIST. 



CHAPTER I. 

That there are two ways ; the one natural, of life, and the other 
introduced afterwards, of death ; and that the former is from 
God, and the latter of error, from the snares of the adversary. 

The lawgiver Moses said to the Israelites, Behold, I {JJ^. 
have set before your face the way of life and the way of death ; and 
added, Choose life, that thou mayest live. Elijah the {iofil\ 
prophet also said to the people, Row long will ye halt with {^f^f' 
both your legs ? If the Lord be God, follow him. The Lord 
Jesus also said justly, No one can serve two masters ; for { f^l\ 
either he will hate the one, and love the other ; or else he will hold 
to the one, and despise the other. We also, following our Master 



164 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

Christ, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that 
believe, are obliged to say that there are two ways, the one of life, 
the other of death ; which have no comparison one with another ; 
for they are very different, or rather entirely separate. And the 
way of life is natural, but that of death was afterwards introduced : 
it not being according to the mind of God, but from the snares of 
the adversary. 



II. 

Moral exhortations of the Lord's constitutions agreeing with the 
ancient 'prohibitions of the divine Laws. The prohibition of 
anger, corruption, adultery, and every forbidden action. 

The first way, therefore, is that of life, and is this, which the 
^. e ^- } Law also appointeth, To love the Lord Gfod with all thy 
nfU.} www?, and with all thy soul, who is the one and only G-od, 
i9 e is.} besides whom there is no other ; and thy neighbor as thyself. 
l-°\L } And whatsoever thou art unwilling to have done to thee* 
5? 44' } that do not thou to another. Bless them that curse you ; 
6 a M. } P ra y f or them that despitefully use you. Love your me. 
Matt, i r/l { e§ - fo r what thanks is it if ye love those that love you ? 
For even the Cfentiles do the same. But love ye those that hate you, 
~%ffi- ] and ye shall have no enemy. For it saith, Thou shalt not 
hate any man, no, not an Egyptian, nor an Edomite. For they are 
all the workmanship of God. Avoid not the persons, but the senti- 
|. p f£ } ments, of the wicked. Abstain from fleshly and worldly 



¥ a 3d. } V an y one sm %te thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the 
other also. Not that retaliation is evil, but that patience is more 
P 7 S : al 5 m } honorable. For David saith, If I have made returns to 
t- a 4i'. } them that repaid me evil. If any one compel thee to go a 
5: 40. } mile, go with him tivain. And he that will sue thee at the 
law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And 
g^o 6 '} f rom him that taketh thy goods require them not again. 
s! a 42! } ^ ve t° him that asketh thee, and from him that would 
borrow of thee turn not thou away and shut thy hand. For 
} the righteous man is compassionate, and lendeth. For 



Psalm 
111: r o. 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 165 

your Father would have you give to all, who himself {f?^; 
maheth his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth his 
rain on the just and on the unjust. It is therefore reasonable to 
give to all out of thine own labors. For the Scripture saith, {|f°£- 
Honor the Lord out of thy righteous labors ; but so that the {S\6. 
saints be preferred. 

Thou shalt not hill; that is, thou shalt not destroy a man like 
thyself; for thou dissolvest what was well made. Not as if all 
killing were wicked, but only that of the innocent ; but the killing 
which is just, is reserved to the magistrates alone. 

Thou shalt not commit adultery ; for thou dividest one flesh into 
two. They two shall be one flesh. For the husband and { f^i. 
wife are one in nature, in consent, in union, in disposition, and the 
conduct of life. But they are separated in sex and in number. 

Thou shalt not corrupt boys ; for this wickedness is con- {ilf 22. 
trary to nature, and arose from Sodom, which was consumed { G l$; 
with fire sent from God. Let such a one be accursed; and { D 2 e 7 Ut * 
all the people shall say, So be it. 

TIwu sJudt not commit fornication. For the Scripture { 2 ? : e i7. 
saith, There shall not be a fornicator among the so7is of Israel. 

Thou shalt not steal. For Achan, when he had stolen in Israel at 
Jericho, was stoned to death ; and Grehazi, who stole, and told a 
lie, inherited the leprosy of Naaman ; and Judas, who stole the 
money of the poor, betrayed the Lord of glory to the Jews, and 
repented, and hanged himself, and burst asunder in the midst, and 
all his bowels gushed out ; and Ananias and Sapphira his wife, who 
stole their own goods, and tempted the Spirit of the Lord, were 
immediately, at the sentence of Peter our fellow-apostle, struck 
dead. 



III. 

Prohibition of conjuring, murder of infants, perjury, and false 

witness. 

Thou shalt not use magic. Thou shalt not use witchcraft. For 
the Scripture saith, Ye shall not suffer those to live ivho {Sfif. 
practise sorcery. 



166 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

Thou shalt not slay thy child by causing abortion, nor kill that 
f£°55.} which is begotten. For every thing that is shaped, and 
hath received a soul from God, if it be slain, shall be avenged, as 
being unjustly destroyed. 

Thou shalt not covet the things that belong to thy neighbor, as 
his wife, or his servant, or his ox, or his field. 

f a $] } Thou shalt not forswear thyself ; for it is said, Swear not 
at all. But if that cannot be, thou shalt swear piously and truly. 

62?i2.} For every one that swear eth by him shall be commended. 

\™Ii. ] Thou shalt not bear false witness. For he that falsely 
aceuseth the needy p>rovoketh to anger him that made Mm. 



IV. 

Prohibition of evil speaking, and wrath, of deceitful conduct, idle 
words, falsehood, covetousness, and hypocrisy. 

Thou shalt not speak evil. For the Scripture saith, Love not to 
speak evil, lest thou be taken away. Nor shalt thou be mindful of 
i^°28. } injuries ; for the ways of those that remember injuries are 
unto death. 

Thou shalt not be double-minded nor double-tongued. For 
P 6? 2! } a man's own lips are a strong snare to him ; and a talk- 
ml u. } ative person shall not be prospered upon the earth. 

i^ a 36. } Thy words shall not be vain. For ye shall give account 
of every idle word. 

psaimj rpk ou ^\t not ^ e< For the Scripture saith, Thou wilt 
destroy all those that speak lies. 

Thou shalt not be covetous nor rapacious. For it saith, Woe 
f^'. } to him that is covetous towards his neighbor, ivith an evil 
covetousness. 

24: at 5i.} Thou shalt not be a hypocrite, lest thy portion be with 
them. 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 167 



Prohibition of malignity, acceptation of persons, prolonged anger, 

and detraction. 



Pet. 
5: 5. 



Deut. 
1: 17. 



Lev. 
19: 17. 



Thou shalt not be ill-natured nor proud. For Cfod {* 
resisteth the proud. 

Thou shalt not accept persons in judgment; for the { 
judgment is the Lord's. 

Thou shalt not hate any man; thou shalt surely reprove { 
thy brother, and not become guilty on his account. And, Reprove 
a wise man, andhe will love thee. Eschew all evil, and all { P 9 r : °8.' 
that is like it. For, saith the Scripture, Abstain from in- {54*14. 
justice, and trembling shall not come nigh thee. 

Be not soon angry, nor spiteful, nor passionate, nor furious, nor 
daring, lest thou undergo the fate of Cain, and of Saul, and \ G ™' 
of Joab ; for the first of these slew his brother Abel, because Abel 
was found to be preferred before him with God, and because Abel's 
sacrifice was preferred; the second persecuted holy {naiS. 
David, who had slain Goliath the Philistine, being envious upon the 
praises of the women who danced ; the third slew two gen- {* JHff 8 ' 
erals of armies, Abner of Israel, and Amasa of Judah. 



VI. 

Concerning augury and enchantments. 

Be not a diviner ; for that leadeth to idolatry. Besides, Divi- 
nation, saith Samuel, is a sin. And, There shall be no {^f^f; 
divination in Jacob, nor soothsaying in Israel. Thou shalt { 2 f : u ^; 
not use enchantments or purifications for thy child. Thou shalt not 
be a soothsayer, nor a diviner by great or little birds. Nor shalt 
thou learn wicked arts. For all these things the law {ESJ?»f smS"* 
hath forbidden. 

Long not for what is evil ; for thou wilt be led into much sin. 
Speak not obscenely, nor use wanton glances, nor be a drunkard. 
For from such causes arise whoredoms and adulteries. 



Nnm 



168 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

¥: & 2i. } Be not a lover of money, lest thou serve mammon, instead 
of God. 

Be not vain-glorious, nor elated, nor haughty ; for hence spring 
manifestations of arrogance. Remember him who said, Lord, my 
Sofi!} heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty ; I have not exer- 
cised myself in great matters, nor in things too high for me. Surely 
Iivas humble. 



VII. 

Prohibition of murmuring, arrogance, pride, and audacity. 

Be not a murmurer, remembering the punishment which they 
J? ; } underwent who murmured against Moses. Be not self- 
willed ; be not malicious ; be not hard-hearted ; be not passionate ; 
be not pusillanimous. For all these things lead to blasphemy. 
Matt. | j> u t k e mee k ? as were Moses and David ; since the meek 
shall inherit the earth. 

VIII. 

Of long-suffering, simplicity, meekness, and patience. 

Be slow to wrath ; for such a one is very prudent ; since he 
f ™29. } that is hasty of spirit is a very fool. 

^fy 4 ;} Be merciful ; for blessed are the mercifid, for they shall 
obtain mercy. 

ii-S.} Be sincere, quiet, good, trembling at the word of God. 

Thou shalt not exalt thyself, as did the Pharisee ; for every one 
i8 l ! k i4.} that exalteth himself shall be abased. And that which is 
i6: 15.} highly esteemed among men is abomination with God. 
i3:°i v 7. } Thou shalt not entertain temerity in thy soul ; for a rash 
man shall fall into mischief. 

Thou shalt not go along with the foolish ; but with the wise and 
vi°lo.} righteous. For he that walketh with wise men shall be 
wise ; but he that walketh with the foolish shall be known. 

Receive the afflictions that befall thee, with an even mind ; and 
reverses, without overmuch sorrow ; knowing that a reward shall 
J 4°2 b ' } De given to thee from God, as was given to Job and to 
L j£ e '} Lazarus. 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 169 



IX. 

That it is our duty to esteem our Christian teachers above our 
parents ; the former being the means of our well-being ', the other 
only of our being. 

Thou shalt honor him that speaketh to thee the Word of God, and 
be mindful of him, clay and night ; and thou shalt reverence him, 
not as the cause of thy being, but as the cause of thy well-being. 
For where the doctrine concerning God is, there God is present. 
Thou shalt every day seek the face of the saints, that thou mayest 
acquiesce in their words. 



X. 

That we ought not to separate ourselves from the saints, but to make 
peace between those that quarrel, to judge righteously, and not to 
accept persons. 

Thou shalt not make schisms among the saints, but be {^lt' 
mindful of the followers of Corah. 

Thou shalt make peace between those that are at variance, as 
Moses did, when he persuaded them to be friends. 

Thou shalt judge righteously ; for the judgment is the { £ e 5#; 
Lord's. Thou shalt not accept persons when thou reprovest for 
sins ; but do as Elijah and Micaiah did to Ahab ; and { il^ii^h. 
Ebedmelech the Ethiopian to Zedekiah, and Nathan to {fjEiiSUi! 
David, and John to Herod. { Matt. 14. 



XI. 

Concerning him that is double-minded, or of little faith. 

Be not of a doubtful mind in thy prayer, whether it shall be 
granted or not. For the Lord said to me, Peter, upon the { i^ a |i". 
sea, thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Be {^if - 
not thou ready to stretch out thy hand to receive, and to shut it ivhen 
thou shouldst give. 



170 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

XII. 

Of doing good. 

If thou hast by the work of thy hands, give, that thou may est 
i5f°27.} labor for the redemption of thy sins. For by alms and acts 
i6: 6. \ of faith, sins are purged away. Thou shalt not grudge to 
give to the poor ; nor, when thou hast given, shalt thou murmur. 
For thou shalt know who will repay thee thy reward ; for the Scrip- 
S:°i7. \ * ure saith, He that hath pity on the poor, lendeth to the Lord ; 
and according to his gift so it shall be repaid him again. Thou 
S?ii} shalt not turn away from him that is needy. For it saith, 
Re that stoppeth his ears, that he may not hear the cry of the needy, 
himself also shall call, and there shall be none to hear him. Thou 
shalt communicate in all things to thy brother, and shalt not say 
that they are thine own. For the common participation of the 
necessaries of life is prepared by God for all men. 
f^" Thou 1 ' shalt not take off thy hand from thy son, or from thy 
daughter, but shalt teach them the fear of God from their youth. 
Sfw. I Forjt saith, Correct thy son ; so shall he afford thee good 
hope. 



XIII. 

How masters ought to behave themselves to their servants ; and how 
servants ought to be subject. 

Thy man-servant or thy maid-servant, who trust in the same God, 
thou shalt not command with bitterness of spirit; lest they groan 
f: p 5.' } against thee, and wrath be upon thee from God. And ye 
servants, be subject to your masters, as to the representatives of 
6i p 7 h ' } G°d> with attention and fear, as to the Lord, and not to 
men. 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 171 



XIV. 

Concerning hypocrisy, and obedience to the laws, and confession of 

sins. 

Thou shalt hate all hypocrisy ; and thou shalt do whatsoever is 
pleasing to the Lord. By no means forsake the commands of the 
Lord ; but observe the things which thou hast received from him, 
neither adding to them, nor taking away from them. For {f ?6.' 
thou shalt not add unto his words, lest he convict thee, and thou 
become a liar. 

Thou shalt confess thy sins to the Lord thy God ; and thou shalt 
not add to them any more, that it may be well with thee from the 
Lord thy God, who willeth not the death of a sinner, but his { \?f; 
repentance. 

XV. 

Concerning the regard due to parents. 

Thou shalt be observant to thy father and mother, as the causes 
of thy being born ; that thou mayest live long on the earth, which 
the Lord thy God giveth thee. Overlook not thy brethren and thy 
kindred. For thou shalt not overlook those who are nearly $ oS^' 
related to thee. 



XVI. 

Concerning the subjection due to the king and to rulers. 

Thou shalt fear the king, knowing that his appointment is of the 
Lord. His rulers thou shalt honor, as the ministers of {S?^- 
God ; for they are the avengers of all unrighteousness ; to whom 
pay taxes, tribute, and every oblation, with a willing mind. 



172 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

XVII. 

Concerning the pure conscience of those that pray. 

Thou shalt not proceed to thy prayer in the day of thy wicked- 
ness, before thou hast laid aside thy bitterness. This is the way of 
life ; in which may ye be found, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 

XVIII. 

That the way ivhich was afterwards introduced by the snares of the 
adversary, is full of impiety and wickedness. 

But the way of death is known by its wicked practices ; for in it 
are ignorance of God, and the introduction of many evils, and dis- 
orders, and disturbances ; through which come murders, adulteries, 
fornications, perjuries, unlawful lusts, thefts, idolatries, magic arts, 
witchcrafts, rapines, false testimonies, hypocrisies, double-hearted- 
ness, deceit, pride, malice, insolence, covetousness, obscene talk, 
jealousy, rashness, haughtiness, arrogance, impudence, persecution 
of the good, enmity to truth, love of lies, ignorance of righteousness. 
For they who do such things adhere not to goodness, nor to right- 
eous judgment. They watch not for good, but for evil ; from whom 
meekness and patience are far off; who love vain things, pursuing 
after reward, having no pity on the poor, not laboring for him that 
is in misery, nor knowing Him that made them ; — murderers of 
infants, destroyers of the workmanship of God ; who turn away from 
the needy, adding affliction to the afflicted ; the flatterers of the 
rich ; the despisers of the poor ; full of sin. 

May you, children, be delivered from all these. 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 173 



XIX. 

That we must not turn from the way of piety, either to the right 
hand or to the left, is the exhortation of the Lawgiver. 

See that no one seduce thee from piety. For, saith God, {f^l 
Thou may est not turn aside from it, to the right hand nor to the 
left ; that thou mayest have understanding in all that thou doest. 
For if thou turn not out of the right way, thou wilt not be wicked. 



XX. 

That ive ought not to despise any of the sorts of food that are set 
before us, but gratefully and orderly to partake of them. 

Now, concerning the several sorts of food, the Lord saith { J ifft 
to thee, Ye shall eat the good things of the earth. And { £ e |; 
all sorts of flesh shall ye eat, as the green herb ; but thou {Sf». 
shalt pour out the blood. For not those things that go into liffiV. 
the mouth, but those that come out of it, defile a man : I mean blas- 
phemies, evil-speaking, and if there be any other thing of the like 
nature. But do thou eat the fat of the land, with righteousness. 
For if there be any thing pleasant, it is His ; and if there { Jf 5?; 
be any thing good, it is His : ivheat for the young men, and wine 
to cheer the maids. For who shall eat, or who shall drink, { £?%\\ 
without him? And wise Ezra admonisheth thee, saying, <2Esdr. 
Go your way, and eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and I 8: e io. 
be not sorrowful. 



XXI. 

That we ought to avoid the eating of things offered to idols. 

But abstain from things offered to idols, that ye may not {} C 2o 
become partners with demons ; for the Gentiles offer those things in 
honor of demons, that is, to the dishonor of the one God. 



174 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 



XXII. 

A constitution of our Lord, hoiv we ought to baptize, and into whose 

death. 

N< w, concerning baptism, bishop or presbyter, we have al- 
ready given direction ; and we now say that thou shalt so baptize as 
28?i9. \ the Lord commanded us, saying, Go ye, and teach all na- 
tions ; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe all things whatso- 
ever I have commanded you: — of the Father who sent ; of Christ 
who came ; of the Comforter who testified. 

But thou shalt first anoint the person with the holy oil, and after- 
wards thou shalt baptize him with water, and in the conclusion thou 
shalt seal him with ointment ; that the anointing with oil may be the 
participation of the Holy Spirit, and the water the symbol of the 
death of Christ, and the ointment the seal of the covenants. But 
if there be neither oil nor ointment, water is sufficient, both for the 
anointing and for the seal, and for the confession of him that is 
dying, namely, dying together with [Christ] . 

Moreover, before baptism, let him that is to be baptized, fast. 
3 m!?!} For even the Lord, when he was first baptized by John, 
and abode in the wilderness, afterwards fasted forty days and forty 
nights. But he was baptized, and then fasted, not having himself 
any need of cleansing, or of fasting, or of purification, who was, by 
nature, pure and holy ; but that he might both testify the truth to 
John, and afford to us an example. Wherefore our Lord was not 
baptized into his own passion, or death, or resurrection ; for none 
of those things had then happened ; but for another purpose. On 
which account he, by his own authority, fasted after his baptism, as 
being the Lord of John. But he who is to be initiated into his 
death, ought first to fast, and then to be baptized. For it is not rea- 
sonable that he who has been buried with Christ, and is risen again 
with him, should appear dejected at his very resurrection. For 
man is not Lord of our Saviour's constitution, since one is the 
Master, and the other the servant. 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 175 



XXIII. 

Which days of the iveek we ought to fast, and which not, and for 

what reasons. 

But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites ; for they fast on 
the second and fifth days of the week. But do ye fast either the 
five days, or the fourth day and the day of the Preparation, be- 
cause on the fourth day the condemnation went out against the 
Lord, Judas then promising to betray him for money ; and ye must 
fast the day of the Preparation, because on that day the Lord suf- 
fered the death of the cross, under Pontius Pilate. Yet the Sab- 
bath and the Lord's day keep as festivals, because the former is 
the memorial of the creation, and the latter of the resurrection. 
And in the whole year there is only one Sabbath to be otherwise 
observed by you, that of our Lord's burial, on which men ought to 
keep a fast, but not a festival. For inasmuch as the Creator was 
then under the earth, the sorrow for him is more forcible than the 
joy for the creation ; because the Creator is more honorable by 
nature and dignity than his own creatures. 



XXIV. 

What sort of people they ought to be who offer the prayer that was 
given by the Lord. 

Now when ye pray, be not as the hypocrites ; but as the ffif 
Lord hath appointed us in the Gospel, so pray ye : Our Father 
who art in heaven; hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom {*£?■$• 
come ; thy ivill be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this 
day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our 
debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 
For thine is the kingdom for ever. Amen. 

Pray thus thrice in a day, preparing yourselves beforehand, that 
ye may be worthy of the adoption of the Father, lest, when ye call 
him Father unworthily, ye be reproached by him, as Israel once his 
first-born son was told, If I be a Father, where is my glory ? { f & \\ 



176 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

And if I be a Lord, where is my fear? For the glory of fathers is 
the holiness of their children, and the honor of masters is the fear 
of their servants ; as the contrary is dishonor and confusion. For 
&S a 5.} saith he, Through you my name is blasphemed among the 
G entiles. 



1 XXV. 

A Mystical Thanksgiving. 

But be ye always thankful, as faithful and honest servants ; and, 
in respect to the Eucharist, say thus : 

We thank thee, our Father, for that life which thou hast made 
known to us by Jesus thy Son, by whom thou madest all things, 
and takest care of the whole world ; whom thou hast sent to become 
man for our salvation ; whom thou hast permitted to suffer and to 
die ; whom thou hast raised up, and been pleased to glorify, and 
hast seated at thy right hand ; by whom also thou hast promised us 
the resurrection of the dead. Do thou, Lord Almighty, ever- 
lasting God, so gather together thy church from the ends of the 
earth into thy kingdom, as this was once scattered, and is now 
become one loaf. We also, our Father, thank thee for the precious 
blood of Jesus Christ, which was shed for us, and for his precious 
body, of which we celebrate these representations, as he himself 
ii?°26.} appointed us, to shoiv forth his death. For through him 
glory shall be given to thee for ever. Amen. 

Let no one eat of them that is not initiated ; but those only who 
have been baptized into the death of the Lord. 

But if any one that is not initiated conceal himself, and partake, 
n Co 29.} h e eateth eternal condemnation; because, being not of the 
faith of Christ, he hath partaken of such things as it is not lawful 
for him to partake of, to his own punishment. But if any one be a 
partaker through ignorance, instruct him quickly, and initiate him, 
that he may not go out a despiser. 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 177 

XXVI. 

A Thanksgiving at the divine participation. 

After the participation, give thanks in this manner : 
We thank thee, God and Father of Jesus our Saviour, for thy 
holy name which thou hast caused to dwell among us, and for the 
knowledge, faith, love, and immortality, which thou hast given us 
through thy Son Jesus. Thou, Almighty Lord, the God of the 
universe, hast by him created the world, and the things that are 
therein; and hast planted a law in our souls, and - beforehand hast 
prepared things for the convenience of men. God of our holy 
and blameless fathers, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, thy faithful 
servants; thou, God, who art powerful, faithful, and true, and 
without deceit in thy promises ; who didst send upon earth Jesus 
thy Christ to converse with men, as a man, when he was God the 
Word, and Man, to take away error by the roots ; do thou thyself 
even now through him be mindful of this thy holy church, which 
thou hast purchased with the precious blood of thy Christ, and deliver 
it from all evil, and perfect it in thy love and thy truth, and gather 
us all together into thy kingdom which thou hast prepared. Maran- 
atha : Our Lord is come. Hosanna to the Son of David. {is?S. 
Blessed he he that cometh in the name of the Lord. {]£?,' ii : id. 

— (God the Lord, who was manifested to us in the flesh.) If 
any one be holy, let him draw near ; but if any one be not such, 
let him become such by repentance. Permit also your Presbyters 
to give thanks. 

XXVII. 

A Thanksgiving in respect to the mystical ointment.. 

Concerning the ointment, give thanks in this manner : 
We give thee thanks, God, the Creator of the whole world, 
both for the fragrancy of the ointment, and for the immortality 
which thou hast made known to us by thy Son Jesus ; since thine 
are the glory and the power, for ever. Amen. 

Whosoever cometh to you, and giveth thanks in this manner, 
12 



178 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

receive him as a disciple of Christ. But if he preach another doc- 
trine, different from that which Christ by us hath delivered to you, 
ye must not permit him to give thanks ; for such a one insulteth 
God rather than glorifieth him. 



XXVIII. 

That we ought not to be indifferent about fellowship. 

But whosoever cometh to you, let him be first examined, and 
then received ; for ye have understanding, and are able to know 
the right hand from the left, and to distinguish false teachers from 
the true. But when a teacher cometh to you, supply him cordially 
with what he needeth. And even when a false teacher cometh, ye 
shall give him for his necessity, but shall not receive his error. 
Nor indeed may ye pray together with him, lest ye be polluted 
with him. 

Every true prophet or teacher that cometh to you is worthy of 
his maintenance, as being a laborer in the word of righteousness. 



XXIX. 

A constitution concerning oblations. 

^gf- } All the first-fruits of the wine-press, the threshing-floor, 
the oxen, and the sheep, thou shalt give to the Priests, that thy store- 
houses and garners, and the products of thy land, may be blessed ; 
and that thou mayest be strengthened with corn, and wine, and oil ; 
and that the herds of thy cattle, and the flocks of thy sheep, may 
be increased. Thou shalt give the tenth of thine increase to the 
orphan, and to the widow, and to the poor, and to the stranger. 
All the first-fruits of thy hot bread, of thy barrels of wine or oil, 
or honey, or nuts, or grapes, or the first-fruits of other things, thou 
shalt give to the Priests ; but those of silver, and of garments, and 
of every kind of possessions, to the orphan and to the widow. 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 179 



XXX. 

How we ought to assemble together, and celebrate the festival day of 
our Saviour's resurrection. 

On the day of the resurrection of the Lord, that is, the Lord's 
day, assemble yourselves together, without fail ; giving thanks to 
God, and praising him for those mercies which God hath bestowed 
upon you, through Christ, in delivering you from ignorance, error, 
and bondage ; that your sacrifice may be unspotted, and acceptable 
to God, who hath said concerning his church universal, In every 
place shall incense and a pure sacrifice be offered unto me ; {™u. 
for I am a great king, saith the Lord Almighty, and my { u. 
name is wonderful among the heathen. 



XXXI. 

What qualifications they ought to have, who are to be ordained. 

Moreover, elect Bishops worthy of the Lord, and Presbyters, and 
Deacons, pious men, righteous, meek, free from the love of money, 
lovers of truth, approved, holy, impartial, able to teach the word of 
piety, and rightly dividing the doctrines of the Lord. And honor 
ye them as your fathers, as your lords, as your benefactors, as the 
causes of your well-being. 

Reprove ye one another, not in anger, but in mildness, with 
kindness and peace. 

Observe all things that are commanded you by the Lord. Be 
watchful for your life. Let your loins be girded about, and {$%. 
your lights burning ; and ye yourselves like unto men who { 36. 
wait for their Lord, when he will come; at even, or in the {^m 
morning, or at cock-crowing, or at midnight. For at what {24*44 
hour they think not the Lord will come. And if they open {i£\% 
to him, blessed are those servants, because they were found { 37. 
watching. For he will gird himself, and make them to sit doivn to 
meat, and will come forth, and serve them. 



180 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

Watch, therefore, and pray, that ye do not sleep unto death. 
For your former good deeds will not profit you, if at the last part of 
your life ye go astray from the true faith. 



XXXII. 

A Prediction concerning events which are to occur. 

For in the last days false prophets shall be multiplied, and such 
**$*" } as corrupt the word ; and the sheep shall be changed into 
wolves, and love into hatred ; for, through the abounding of iniquity, 
the love of mmj shall wax cold. For men shall hate, and perse- 
2Thess.| cu t 6j an( j betray one another. And then shall appear the 
deceiver of the world, the enemy of the truth, the prince of lies, 
!p a 4 } whom the Lord Jesus shall destroy with the Spirit of his 
mouth; who taketh away the wicked with his lips. And many 
24- a io } shall oe offended at him. But they that endure to the end, 
||- } the same shall be saved. And then shall appear the sign of 
the Son of man in heaven. Thereupon shall be the voice of a 
trumpet by the archangel, and immediately the revival of those 
that were asleep. And then shall the Lord come, and all his saints 
Matt. j. w ith him, with a great concussion above the clouds, with the 
angels of his power, on the throne of his kingdom, to condemn the 
deceiver of the world, and to render to every one according to his 
25- at 46 } deeds. Then shall the wicked go away into everlasting 
punishment, but the righteous shall go into life eternal, to inherit 
l £f- \ those things which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor 
have entered into the heart of man such things as God hath prepared 
for them that love him ; and they shall rejoice in the kingdom of 
God, which is in Christ Jesus. 

Since now we have been honored with so great blessings from 
him, let us become his supplicants, and call upon him by continual 
prayer, saying : — 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 181 

XXXIII. 

A Prayer declarative of GrocVs various providence. 

eternal Saviour, the king of gods, who alone art almighty, and 
the Lord, the God of all beings, and the God of our holy and blame- 
less fathers, and of those before us ; the God of Abraham, and of 
Isaac, and of Jacob ; who art merciful and compassionate, long- 
suffering, and abundant in mercy ; to whom every heart is naked, 
and by whom every heart is seen, and to whom every secret thought 
is revealed : to thee do the souls of the righteous cry aloud ; upon 
thee do the hopes of the godly trust, thou Father of the blameless, 
thou hearer of the supplications of those that call upon thee with 
uprightness, and who knowest the supplications that are not uttered. 
For thy providence reacheth to the inmost parts of men, and by thy 
knowledge thou searchest the thoughts of every one ; and in every 
region of the whole earth the incense of prayer and supplication is 
sent up to thee. 

thou who hast appointed this present world as a place of com- 
bat to righteousness, and hast opened to all the gate of mercy, and 
hast shown to every man, by implanted knowledge, and natural 
judgment, and the admonitions of the Law, that the possession of 
riches is not everlasting, the ornament of beauty is not perpetual, 
our strength and force are easily dissolved ; all indeed is vapor and 
vanity ; and nothing but consciousness of faith unfeigned passeth 
through the midst of the heavens, and, returning with truth, taketh 
hold of the right hand of the joy which is to come. And, withal, 
before the promise of the restoration of all things is accomplished, 
the soul itself exulteth in hope, and is joyful. For from the begin- 
ning, when our forefather Abraham was laboring after the way of 
truth, thou, by a vision, didst guide him, teaching him what kind of 
a state this world is ; and knowledge went before his faith, and 
faith ensued upon his knowledge, and the covenant was a conse- 
quence of his faith. For thou saidst, I will make thy seed {$?% 
as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is by the sea- {22: 17. 
shore. Still further, when thou hadst given him Isaac, and knewest 
him to be similar in his character, thou wast called also his God, 
saying, I will be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee. \ ^ 



182 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

gf^ } And when our father Jacob was sent into Mesopotamia, 
28: i5?~} thou showedst him Christ, and by him spakest, saying, 

48-. 4. } Behold, I am with thee, and I will increase thee, and mul- 
tiply thee exceedingly. And thus spakest thou to Moses, thy faith- 
ful and holy servant, at the vision of the bush, I am he that is. 
This is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all genera- 
tions. thou Protector of the posterity of Abraham, blessed art 
thou for ever. 



XXXIV. 

A Prayer declarative of Gf-od's various creation. 

Blessed art thou, Lord, the King of ages, who, through Christ, 
hast made the whole world, and through him, in the beginning, didst 
reduce into order the disordered parts ; who didst divide the waters 
from the waters by a firmament, and didst put into them a spirit of 
life ; who didst fix the earth, and stretch out the heaven, and didst 
dispose every creature by an accurate constitution. For by thy 
power, Lord, the world is beautified ; the heaven is fixed as an 
arch over us, and is rendered illustrious with stars, for our comfort 
in the darkness. The light, also, and the sun, were produced for 
days, and for the production of fruits ; and the moon for the change 
of seasons, by its increase and diminutions ; and night and day re- 
ceived their respective names. The firmament, moreover, was ex- 
hibited in the midst of the abyss ; and thou didst command the waters 
to be gathered together, and the dry land to appear. But, as for 
the sea itself, who can possibly describe it ? which cometh with fury 
from the ocean, yet runneth back again from the sand of the shore, 
38: ii.} being stopped at thy command ; for thou hast said, Thereby 
shall her ivaves be broken. Thou hast also made it capable of sup- 
porting little and great creatures, and made it navigable for ships. 

Then did the earth become green, and was planted with all sorts 
of flowers, and the variety of different trees ; and the shining lumi- 
naries, the nourishers of those plants, preserve their unchangeable 
course, and in nothing depart from thy command. But where thou 
biddest them, there they rise and set, for signs of the seasons, and 
of the years, making a constant return of the work of men. 

Afterwards the kinds of the several animals were created : those 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 183 

belonging to the land, to the water, to the air, and both to air 
and water ; and the skilful wisdom of thy providence bestoweth 
upon each a suitable provident care. For as it was not unable to 
produce various kinds, so neither hath it disdained to provide vari- 
ously for each. 

And at the conclusion of the creation, thou gavest direction to 
thy Wisdom, and formedst a rational living creature, as the citizen 
of the world, saying, Let us make man after our image, and {£ e 26. 
after our likeness ; and hast exhibited him as the ornament of the 
world, and formed him a body out of the four elements, those primary 
bodies, but hast prepared a soul out of nothing, and hast bestowed 
upon him his five senses, and set over his sensations a mind, as the 
conductor of the soul. 

And besides all these things, Lord God, who can worthily 
declare the motion of the rainy clouds, the shining of the lightning, 
the noise of the thunder, in order to the supply of proper food, and 
the most agreeable temperature of the air ? 

But, when man was disobedient, thou didst deprive him of the life 
proposed for his reward ; yet thou didst not utterly destroy him, but 
laidest him to sleep for a time ; and thou hast by oath called him to 
a resurrection, and hast loosed the bond of death, thou Keviver 
of the dead, through Jesus Christ, who is our hope. 



XXXV. 

A Prayer with thanksgiving, declarative of God's care over the 
beings he hath made. 

Great art thou, Lord Almighty, and great is thy power ; and 
to thine understanding there is no limit ; — our Creator and Sa- 
viour, rich in benefits, long-suffering, and the Bestower of mercy, 
who dost not take away thy salvation from thy creatures ; for thou 
art good by nature, and sparest sinners, and invitest them to repent- 
ance ; for admonition is the effect of thy bowels of compassion. For 
how should we abide if we were required to come to judgment imme- 
diately, when, after so much long-suffering, we hardly emerge from 
our miserable condition ! 

The heavens declare thy dominion, and the earth shaketh with 



184 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

earthquakes, and, hanging upon nothing, declareth thine unshaken 
steadfastness. The sea, raging with waves, and feeding a flock of 
ten thousand creatures, is bounded with sand, as standing in awe at 
wlfS.} *hj will ; and it compelleth all men to cry out, How great 
are thy works, Lord! In wisdom hast thou made them all. 
The earth is full of what thou hast created. 

And the bright host of angels, and the intellectual spirits, say to 
Palmoni, One is holy ! And the holy seraphim, together with the 
six-winged cherubim, who sing to thee their triumphal song, cry 
isaiah, j ou ^ ^fa n ever-ceasing voices, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord 
of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. And the other 
multitudes of the orders, angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, 
3: Z i2:} principalities, authorities, and powers, cry aloud, and say, 
Blessed be the glory of the Lord out of his place. But Israel, thy 
church on earth, taken out of the Gentiles, emulating the heavenly 
Powers, night and day, with a full heart and a willing soul, singeth, 
67?i8.} The chariot of God is ten thousand fold, thousands of 
them that rejoice. The Lord is among them in Sinai, in the holy 
place. 

The heaven knoweth Him who fixed it as a cube of stone, in the 
form of an arch, upon nothing ; who united the land and the water to 
one another, and scattered the vital air all abroad, and conjoined fire 
therewith for warmth, and for the mitigation of darkness. The choir 
of stars striketh us with admiration, declaring Him that numbereth 
them, and showing Him that nameth them ; the animals declare Him 
that putteth life into them : the trees, Him that maketh them grow ; 
all which creatures, being made by thy word, show forth the great- 
ness of thy power. Wherefore, every man, since by thine appoint- 
ment he hath power over them all, ought, from his very soul, to send 
up a hymn to thee, through Christ, in the name of them all. 

For thou art kind in thy benefits, and beneficent in thy bowels of 
compassion ; who alone art almighty ; for when thou wiliest, to be 
able is present with thee. For thine eternal power quencheth 
flame, and stoppeth the mouths of lions, and tameth whales, and 
raiseth up the sick, and over-ruleth the power of all things, and 
ovcrturneth the host of enemies, and casteth down a people num- 
bered in their arrogance. Thou art He who art in heaven, He who 
art on earth, He who art in the sea, He who art in finite things, thy- 
self unconfincd by any thing. For of thy majesty there is no 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 185 

boundary ; for it is not ours, Lord, but the oracle of thy servant, 
who said, And thou shalt know in thy heart that the Lord {?. e %; 
thy God is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath ; and 
there is none other besides him. For there is no God besides thee 
alone ; there is none holy besides thee, the Lord, the God of knowl- 
edge, the God of the saints, holy above all holy beings ; for they 
are sanctified by thy hands. 

Thou art glorious, and highly exalted, invisible by nature, and 
unsearchable in thy judgments ; whose life is without want ; whose 
duration can never fail ; whose operation is without toil ; whose 
greatness is unlimited ; whose excellency is perpetual ; whose habi- 
tation is inaccessible ; whose dwelling is unchangeable ; whose 
knowledge is without beginning ; whose truth is immutable ; whose 
work is without assistant ; whose dominion cannot be taken away ; 
whose monarchy is without succession ; whose kingdom is without 
end ; whose strength is irresistible ; whose army is most numerous. 
For thou art the Father of wisdom, the Creator, as the primary 
Author, of the creation, by a Mediator ; the Bestower of provi- 
dence ; the Giver of laws ; the Supplier of want ; the Punisher of 
the wicked, and the Rewarder of the righteous ; the God and 
Father of Christ, and the Lord of those that are pious towards him, 
[thine anointed One ;] whose promise is infallible ; whose judgment 
is without bribes ; whose sentiments are immutable ; whose piety is 
incessant ; whose thanksgiving is perpetual ; and through whom 
worthy adoration is due to thee from every rational and holy nature. 



XXXYI. 

A Prayer commemorative of the Incarnation of Christ ; and his 
various providence to the saints. 

Lord Almighty, thou hast created the world by Christ, and 
hast appointed the Sabbath in memory thereof; since thou hast 
made us rest on that day from our works, for meditation upon thy 
laws. Thou hast also appointed festivals for the rejoicing of our 
souls, that we might come into the remembrance of the {^22. 
Wisdom that was created by thee ; how he, for our sake, sub- 
mitted to be born of a woman. He appeared in life, manifesting 



186 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

himself in his baptism, that he who thus came forth is God and 
man. He suffered and died for us by thy permission, and rose 
again by thy power ; on which account, we, solemnly assembling to 
celebrate the festival of the Resurrection on the Lord's day, rejoice 
concerning Him who hath conquered death, and hath brought life 
and immortality to light. For by him thou hast brought home the 
Gentiles to thyself, for a peculiar people, the true Israel, beloved of 
God, and seeing God. For thou, Lord, broughtest our fathers 
out of the land of Egypt, and didst deliver them out of the iron 
furnace, from clay and brick-making, and didst redeem them out of 
the hands of Pharaoh, and of those under him ; and didst lead them 
through the sea, as through dry land ; and didst bear their manners 
in the wilderness, and bestow on them all sorts of good things. 
Thou didst give them the Law, or Decalogue, which was pronounced 
by thy voice, and written with thy hand. Thou didst enjoin the 
observance of the Sabbath, not affording them an occasion of idle- 
ness, but an opportunity of piety, for their knowledge of thy power, 
and the restraint of evils ; having enclosed the people, as within a 
^l v *} holy circuit, for the sake of instruction, so that they might 
25. } rejoice on the seventh day. On this account were appointed 
one week, and seven weeks, and the seventh month, and the seventh 
year ; and the sevenfold revolution of this, the jubilee, which is the 
fiftieth year, for remission ; that men might have no occasion to 
pretend ignorance. 

— (For this purpose he permitted men, every Sabbath, to rest, 
that no one might be disposed to utter a word out of his mouth in 
anger on the day of the Sabbath. For the Sabbath is the ceasing 
of the creation, the completion of the world, the inquiry after laws, 
and the grateful praise to God for the blessings he hath bestowed 
upon men.) — 

All which appointed times the Lord's day excelleth, and showeth 
the Mediator himself, the Provider, the Lawgiver, the Author of 
the Resurrection, the First-born of the whole creation, God the 
Word, and Man ; who was born of Mary alone, without a man ; 
who lived a holy life ; who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and 
died, and rose again from the dead ; so that the Lord's day com- 
mandeth us to offer unto thee, Lord, thanksgiving for all. For 
thus is the grace afforded by thee, which, on account of its great- 
ness, hath obscured all other blessings. 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 187 



XXXVII. 

A Prayer containing a memorial of providence, and an enumera- 
tion of the various benefits afforded to the saints by the providence 
of God through Christ. 

Thou who hast fulfilled thy promises made by the prophets, and 
hast had mercy on Zion, and compassion on Jerusalem, by {ifl!: 
exalting the throne of David, thy servant, in the midst of { £ C 3o; 
her, by the birth of Christ, who was born of his seed, according to 
the flesh, of a virgin alone ; do thou now, Lord God, accept the 
prayers which proceed from the lips of thy people, who are of the 
Gentiles, who call upon thee in truth, as thou didst accept of the 
gifts of the righteous in their generations. In the first place, thou 
didst respect the sacrifice of Abel, and accept it, as thou { Ge 4 n - 
didst accept the sacrifice of Noah, when he went out of the { 8. 
ark ; of Abraham, when he went out of the land of the \ i* 
Chaldeans ; of Isaac, at the well of the oath ; of Jacob, in { ||; 
Bethel ; of Moses, in the desert ; of Aaron, between the { |^; if; 
dead and the living ; of Joshua, the son of Nun in Gilgal ; { J f>* 
of Gideon, at the rock, and the fleeces, before his sin ; { Jud | es - 
of Manoah and his wife, in the field ; of Samson, in his \ j|; 
thirst, before his transgression ; of Jephthah, in the war, { 15 ix 16 - 
before his rash vow ; of Barak and Deborah, in the days { 4. 
of Sisera; of Samuel, in Mizpeh; of David, in the {i/chrf'21! 
threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite ; of Solomon, in Gib- { 3 f : in 8 gs ' 
eon, and in Jerusalem ; of Elijah, in Mount Carmel ; { is. 
of Elisha, at the barren fountain; of Jehosaphat, in {ichrf'ii". 
war; of Hezekiah, in his sickness, and concerning Senna- i^^ilf ' 
cherib ; of Manasseh, in the land of the Chaldeans, after 
his transgression ; of Josiah, in his Passover ; of Ezra, at 



2Chr. 
33. 



1 Esdr. 8. 



the return; of Daniel, in the den of lions ; of Jonah, in {^onah,2 4 
the whale's belly ; of the three children in the fiery fur- { D f n - 
nace ; of Hannah, in the tabernacle before the ark; of £ 1K j n 8 s ' 
Nehemiah, at the rebuilding of the walls ; of Zerubbabel ; { 1E 3 sdr - 
of Mattathias and his sons, in their zeal; of Jael, in {jiJgS;f:"i*. 
blessings. And now, therefore, accept the prayers of thy people, 
which are offered to thee with knowledge, through Christ, in the 
Spirit. 



188 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

XXXVIII. 

A Prayer for the assistance of the righteous. 

We give thee thanks for all things, Lord Almighty, that thou 
hast not taken away from us thy mercies and thy compassions ; but 
in every succeeding generation thou dost save, and deliver, and 
assist, and protect. For thou didst assist in the days of Enos and 
Enoch ; in the days of Moses and Joshua ; in the days of the 
judges ; in the days of Samuel, and of Elijah, and of the prophets ; 
in the days of David, and of the kings ; in the days of Esther and 
Mordecai ; in the days of Judith ; in the days of Judas Maccabeus 
and his brethren. And in our days thou hast assisted us by thy 
great High Priest, Jesus Christ, thy Son. For he hath delivered 
us from the sword, and hath freed us from famine, and sustained 
us ; hath delivered us from sickness, and hath preserved us from an 
evil tongue. For all which things we give thee thanks, through 
Christ, who hath given us an articulate voice for confession, and 
added to it a suitable tongue, as an instrument to modulate withal, 
and a proper taste, and a well-adapted feeling, and sight for seeing, 
and the hearing of sounds, and* the smelling of exhalations, and 
hands for work, and feet for walking. And all these members 
thou formes t from a little drop in the womb ; and, after the formation, 
thou bestowest on it an immortal soul, and bringest it forth into the 
light. The rational creature, man, thou hast instructed by thy 
laws, thou hast purified by thy statutes ; and though thou bringest 
on a dissolution for a little while, thou hast promised a resurrection, 

Wherefore, what life is sufficient, what length of ages will be long 
enough, for men to render thanks ? To do it worthily is impossible ; 
but to do it according to our ability, is just and right. For thou 
hast delivered us from the impiety of polytheism, and from the 
heresy of the murderers of Christ. Thou hast delivered us from 
error and ignorance. Thou hast sent Christ among men, as a man, 
being the only-begotten God. Thou hast sent the Comforter to 
dwell in us. Thou hast set angels over us. Thou hast put the 
devil to shame. Thou hast brought us into being when we were 
not ; thou takest care of us when made ; thou measurcst out life to 
us ; thou suppliest us with food ; thou hast promised repentance. 



EOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 189 

Glory and worship be to thee, for all these things, through Jesus 
Christ, now and ever, and throughout all ages. Amen. 

Meditate on these things, brethren ; and the Lord be with you 
upon earth, and in the kingdom of his Father, who both sent him, and 
hath delivered us, by him, from the bondage of corruption {f™' 
into his glorious liberty ; and hath promised life to those who, 
through him, have believed in the God of the universe. 

Now, after what manner those ought to live that are initiated into 
Christ, and what thanksgivings they ought to send up to God 
through Christ, have been mentioned in the foregoing directions. 
But it is reasonable not to leave, without assistance, even those who 
are not yet initiated. 



XXXIX. 

How the Catechumens are to be instructed in the elements. 

He, therefore, who is to be catechized in the word of piety, 
let him be instructed before his baptism in the knowledge of the 
unbegotten God, in the understanding of his only-begotten Son, 
in the assured acknowledgment of the Holy Spirit. Let him 
learn the order of the several parts of the creation, the series 
of providence, the different dispensations of the laws. Let him 
be instructed why the world was made, and why man was ap- 
pointed to be a citizen therein. Let him also know his own 
nature ; of what sort it is. Let him be taught how God punished 
the wicked with water ; and how he glorified the saints in each 
generation ; I mean Seth, and Enos, and Enoch, and Noah, and 
Abraham and his posterity, and Melchisedek, and Job, and Moses, 
and Joshua, and Caleb, and Phineas the priest, and those that were 
holy in each generation ; and how God still took care of and did 
not reject mankind, but, at various times, called them from their 
error and vanity to the acknowledgment of the truth ; bringing 
them back from bondage and impiety to liberty and piety, from 
injustice to righteousness, from death eternal to everlasting life. 

Let him who is coming to baptism learn these and the like things, 
in his catechetical instruction ; and let him who layeth his hands 
upon him, adore God, the Lord of the universe, and thank him in 
behalf of his creature, for sending Christ, his only-begotten Son, 



190 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

that he might save man, blotting out his transgressions ; and that 
2 7 f jr I he might remit ungodliness and sins, and might purify him 
from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and sanctify man according to 
the good pleasure of his kindness, that he might inspire him with 
the knowledge of his will, and enlighten the eyes of his heart to 
consider of his wonderful works, and make known to him the judg- 
ments of righteousness ; that so he might hate every way of iniquity, 
and walk in the way of truth ; that he might be thought worthy of 
the laver of regeneration, to the adoption of sons, which is in Christ ; 
e?™;} that, being planted together in the likeness of the death of 
Christ, in hope of a glorious participation, he may be dead to 
sin, and may live to God, as to his mind, and word, and deed, and 
may be numbered together in the book of the living. 

And, after this thanksgiving, let him instruct him in the doctrines 
concerning our Lord's incarnation, and in those concerning his 
passion, and his resurrection from the dead, and his assumption. 



XL. 

A constitution how the Catechumens are to be blessed by the Priests , 
in their initiation ; and what things are to be taught them. 

And when the catechumen is just at the point of being baptized, 
let him learn what concerneth the renunciation of the devil, and the 
joining himself with Christ. For it is fit that he should first abstain 
from things contrary, and then be admitted to the mysteries. He 
must, beforehand, purify his heart from all wickedness of disposition, 
from all spot and wrinkle, and then partake of the holy things. For 
as the most skilful husbandman first cleareth his ground of the 
thorns which are grown up therein, and then soweth his wheat, so 
ought ye also to take away all impiety from them [the catechu- 
mens] ; and then to sow the seeds of piety in them, and bestow 
baptism. For thus our Lord exhorted us, saying, first, Make disci- 
2?: a i9. } pl es °f a M nations ; and then he added this, and baptize 
them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost. 

Let, therefore, the candidate for baptism declare, in his renuncia- 
tion, — 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 191 



XLI. 

The renunciation of the adversary , and the dedication to the Christ 

of God. 

I renounce Satan, and his works, and his pomps, and his worship, 
and his angels, and his inventions, and all things that are under 
him. 

And, after this renunciation, let him, in his dedication, say, And 
I associate myself with Christ, and believe in and am baptized into 
one unbegotten Being, the only true God Almighty, the Father of 
Christ, the Creator and Maker of all things, from whom are all 
things ; — and into the Lord Jesus Christ, his only-begotten Son, 
the First-born of the whole creation, who, before the ages, was, 
by the good pleasure of the Father, begotten, not created ; through 
whom all things were made, both those in heaven and those on 
earth, visible and invisible ; who, in the last days, descended from 
heaven, and took flesh, and was born of the holy virgin Mary, and 
lived a holy life, according to the laws of his God and Father, and 
was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and died for us ; and rose again 
from the dead, after his Passion, the third day, and ascended into 
the heavens, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father ; and again 
is to come at the end of the world, with glory, to judge the living 
and the dead ; of whose kingdom there shall be no end. I am 
baptized also into the Holy Ghost, that is, the Comforter, who 
wrought in all the saints from the beginning of the world, but 
was afterwards sent to the apostles by the Father, according to 
the promise of our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ, and, after the 
apostles, to all who believe, in the holy Catholic church ; — into the 
resurrection of the flesh, and into the remission of sins, and into 
the kingdom of heaven, and into the life of the world to come. 

And, after this declaration, he cometh in order to the anointing 
with oil. 



192 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

XLIL 

A Thanksgiving in respect to the anointing with the mystical oil. 

Now this is blessed by the high priest for the remission of sins 
and the preparative for baptism. For he invoketh the unbegotten 
God, the Father of Christ, the King of all sensible and intelligent 
natures, that he would sanctify the oil in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, and bestow spiritual grace, and efficacious strength, the 
remission of sins, and the preparation for the confession of baptism ; 
that so the candidate for baptism, when he is anointed, may be freed 
from all ungodliness, and may become worthy of initiation, accord- 
ing to the command of the Only-begotten. 

XLIII. 

A Thanksgiving concerning the mystical water. 

xlfter this, he cometh to the water. The priest blesseth and glo- 
rifieth the Lord God Almighty, the Father of the only-begotten God ; 
returning thanks, that he sent his Son to become man on our 
account, that he might save us ; that he permitted him to become 
obedient, in all things, to the laws of that incarnation, to preach the 
kingdom of heaven, the remission of sins, and the resurrection of 
the dead. 

Moreover, he adoreth the only-begotten God himself (after the 
Father, and for him), giving him thanks that he undertook to suffer 
death by the cross for all men ; an emblem of which death he hath 
appointed to be the baptism of regeneration. 

He giveth glory also, that, in the name of Christ, God, the Lord 
of the universe, in the Holy Spirit, hath not cast off mankind, but 
hath suited his providence to the difference of times ; first giving to 
Adam himself, with a regard to his enjoyment, Paradise, as a habi- 
tation ; then, with a regard to provident care, delivering to him a 
command, but justly expelling him when he had transgressed ; yet 
not utterly casting him off, but instructing his posterity, in succeed- 
ing ages, in various ways ; and, on his account, towards the conclu- 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 193 

sion of the world, he hath sent his Son to become man for man's 
sake, and to be subject to all human affections without sin. Him. 
therefore, let the priest even now implore at the baptism, and let him 
say, Look down from heaven, and sanctify this water ; and bestow 
grace and power, so that he who is to be baptized, according to the 
command of thy Christ, may be crucified with him, and may die 
with him, and may be buried with him, and may rise with him to 
the adoption which is in him, by being made dead indeed unto sin, 
but alive unto righteousness. 

And after this, when he hath baptized him in the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, he shall anoint him 
with ointment, and shall add as followeth : — 



XLIV. 

A Thanksgiving concerning the mystical ointment. 

Lord God, who art without generation, and without a superior, 
the Lord of the universe, who hast scattered the fragrance of the 
knowledge of the Gospel among all nations, do thou grant, at this 
time, that this ointment may be efficacious upon him that is baptized, 
so that the sweet odor of thy Christ may continue upon him firm 
and fixed, and that, having died with him, he may rise with him, and 
live with him. 

Let him say these and the like things ; for this is the efficacy of 
the laying of hands on each. For, unless there be such an invocation 
made by a pious priest over every one of these, the candidate for 
baptism only descendeth into the water, as do the Jews ; and he 
putteth off only the filth of the body, not the filth of the soul. 

After this, let him stand up, and pray that prayer which {^ 
the Lord taught us ; for, of necessity, he who is risen again ought 
to stand up and pray ; because he that is raised up standeth upright. 
Let him, therefore, who hath been dead with Christ, and is raised 
up with him, stand up. But let him pray towards the east. For 
this also is written in the second book of the Chronicles, that, after 
the temple of the Lord was finished by king Solomon, in the very 
Feast of Dedication, the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, 
stood up towards the east, praising and thanking God, with cymbals 
13 



194 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VII. 

i c i3.'} an ^ psalteries, and saying, Praise the Lord, for he is good ; 
for his mercy endureth for ever. 



XLV. 

A Prayer of the newly initiated. 

Moreover, let him pray thus after the foregoing prayer, and say, 
God Almighty, the Father of thy Christ, thine only-begotten Son, 
give me a body undefiled, a heart pure, a mind watchful, an unerr- 
ing knowledge, the influence of the Holy Spirit for the obtaining 
and the full assurance of the truth, through thy Christ ; by whom 
glory be to thee, in the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 

These constitutions we have thought it right to make concerning 
the catechumens. 

XLVI. 

Who they ivere whom the holy apostles sent and ordained. 

Now concerning those Bishops who have been ordained in our 
lifetime, we make known to you that they are these : Of Jerusa- 
lem, James, the brother of our Lord ; upon whose death the second 
was Symeon, the son of Cleopas ; after whom, Judas, the son of 
James. Of Caesarea in Palestine, the first was Zaccheus, who was 
once a publican ; after whom was Cornelius ; and the third, The- 
ophilus. Of Antioch, Euodius, by me, Peter ; and Ignatius, by 
Paul. Of Alexandria, Annianus was the first, by Mark the Evan- 
gelist ; the second, Avilius, by Luke, who also was an evangelist. 
*?*£} Of the church of Rome, Linus, the son of Claudia, was the 
first, by Paul ; and Clement, after Linus's death, the second, by 
me, Peter. Of Ephesus, Timothy, by Paul ; and John, by me, 
John. Of Smyrna, Aristo was the first ; after whom, Stratseas, the 
2 iPr} son of Lois; and the third, Aristo. OfPergamos, Gaius. 
Of Philadelphia, Demetrius, by me [John]. Of Cenchrea, Lucius, 
by Paul. Of Crete, Titus. Of Athens, Dionysius. Of Tripoli in 
Phoenicia, Marathones. Of Laodicea in Phrygia, Archippus. Of 
Fhjiera.) Colosse, Philemon. Of Beroea in Macedonia, Onesimus, 



BOOK VII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 195 

once the servant of Philemon. Of the churches of Galatia, Cre- 
scens. Of the parishes of Asia, Aquila and Nicetas. Of the 
church of iEgina, Crispus. 

These are the Bishops who have been intrusted by us with the 
parishes in the Lord ; whose doctrine keep ye always in mind, and 
observe our words. And may the Lord be with you now, and to 
endless ages ; as he himself said to us, when he was about to be 
taken up to his own God and Father. For, Lo (he saith), { 2 Jf a 2o- 
I am with you all the days, until the end of the ivorld. Amen. 



XLVII. 

A Morning Prayer. 

Grlory be to Grod in the highest ; and upon earth, peace, good 
will among men. We praise thee, we sing hymns to thee, we bless 
thee, we glorify thee, we worship thee, by thy great High Priest ; 
thee, who art the true God, who art the One unbegotten, the only 
inaccessible Being. For thy great glory, Lord and heavenly 
King, God, the Father Almighty, Lord God, the Father of 
Christ, the immaculate Lamb, who taketh away the sin of the world, 
receive our prayer, thou that sittest upon the cherubim ; since thou 
only art holy. Thou only, Jesus, art our Lord, the Christ of the 
God of all that hath been brought forth, of the God our King. 
Through this our Lord, glory be to thee, and honor, and worship. 



XLVIII. 

5 " An Evening Prayer. 

Ye children, praise the Lord ; praise the name of the Lord. We 
praise thee, we sing hymns to thee, we bless thee for thy great glory, 
Lord, our King, the Father of Christ, the immaculate Lamb, that 
taketh away the sin of the world. Praise becometh thee, hymns be- 
come thee, glory becometh thee, the God and Father, through the 
Son, in the most Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen. Now, 
Lord, lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to {£ u |f; 



196 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

thy word ; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast 
prepared before the face of all people ; a light to enlighten the Gen- 
tiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. 



XLIX. 

A Prayer at Dinner. 

Blessed art thou, Lord, who dost nourish me from my youth ; 
who givest food to all flesh. Fill our hearts with joy and gladness, 
that, having always what is sufficient for us, we may abound to 
every good work, in Christ Jesus, our Lord ; through whom glory, 
honor, and power, be to thee for ever. Amen. 



BOOK VIII. 

CONCERNING GIFTS, AND ORDINATIONS, AND ECCLESIASTICAL 

CANONS. 



CHAPTER I. 

On whose account the miraculous powers are put forth. 

Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour, having delivered to us the 

great mystery of godliness, and called both Jews and Gentiles to 

the acknowledgment of the one and only true God his Father, as 

he himself somewhere saith, when he was giving thanks for the 

*$\ } salvation of those that had believed, I have manifested thy 

4. } name to men ; I have finished the work which thou gavest me ; 

ii. } and having said concerning us to his Father, Holy Father, 

25. } although the world hath not known thee, yet I have known 

thee ; and these have known thee ; he with good reason said to all 

of us together, when we were perfected, concerning those gifts 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 197 

which were given from him by the Spirit, Now these {i 6 ?i a 7 r , k i 8 . 
signs shall follow them that have believed in my name : They shall 
cast out demons ; they shall speak with new tongues ; they shall 
take up serpents ; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not 
hurt tltem. They shall lay their hands on the sick, and they shall 
recover. 

These gifts were first bestowed on us the apostles, when we were 
about to preach the Gospel to every creature ; but afterwards they 
were of necessity afforded to those who through us had believed, — 
not for the advantage of those who perform them, but for the con- 
viction of the unbelievers ; that those whom the word did not per- 
suade, the power of signs might put to shame. For signs are not 
for us who believe, but for the unbelievers, both of the Jews and of 
the Gentiles. For neither is it any profit to us to cast out demons, 
but to those who are so cleansed by the power of the Lord ; as the 
Lord himself somewhere instructeth us, and showeth, saying, 
Rejoice not that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice {10^20. 
that your names are written in heaven : since the former is done 
by his power, but this by our good will and diligence ; we, it is 
evident, being assisted by him. 

It is not therefore necessary, that every one of the faithful should 
cast out demons, or raise the dead, or speak with tongues ; but that 
he should, on whom this gift has been bestowed for some useful 
object, in respect to the salvation of the unbelievers, who are often 
put to shame, not by the convincing . proof of words, but by the 
power of signs ; that is, such as are worthy of salvation. For all 
the ungodly are not converted by miracles ; and this God himself 
testifieth, as when he saith in the Law, With other tongues {gfii. 
will I speak to this people, and with other lips, and yet they {l^ii. 
will not believe. For neither did the Egyptians believe in God, 
when Moses had done so many signs and wonders ; nor did the mul- 
titude of the Jews believe in Christ (who was like Moses), when 
he healed every sickness and every disease among them ; nor were 
the former shamed by the rod which was turned into a living ser- 
pent, nor by the hand which was made white with leprosy, nor by 
the river Nile turned into blood ; nor the latter by the blind who 
recovered their sight, nor by the lame who walked, nor by the 
dead who were raised. Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses ; An- 
nas and Caiaphas, Christ. Thus signs do not shame all into belief, 



198 CONSTITUTIONS OP [BOOK VIII. 

but only those of a good disposition ; for whose sake also it is that 
God is pleased, as a wise superintendent, to appoint miracles to be 
wrought, not by the power of men, but by his own will. 

Now we say these things, that those who have received such gifts 
may not exalt themselves against those who have not received 
them ; such gifts, we mean, as are for the working of miracles ; 
since there is no man who hath believed in God, through Christ, 
that hath not received some spiritual gift. For this very thing, 
to have been delivered from the impiety of Polytheism, and to have 
believed in God the Father, through Christ, is a gift of God ; as 
also it is to have cast off the veil of Judaism, and to have believed 
that, by the good pleasure of God, his only-begotten Son, who was 
before all ages, was in the later time born of a virgin, without the 
company of a man ; and that he lived as a man, yet without sin, 
and fulfilled all that righteousness which is of the law ; and that, by 
the permission of God, he who was God the Word endured the 
cross, and despised the shame ; and that he died, and was buried, 
and rose within three days ; and that, after his resurrection, having 
continued forty days with his apostles, and completed his whole 
constitutions, he was taken up in their sight to his God and Father 
who had sent him. He who hath believed these things, not at ran- 
dom, nor irrationally, but with judgment and full assurance, hath 
received a gift from God. So also hath he who is delivered from 
every heresy. 

Let not, therefore, any one that worketh signs and wonders judge 
any one of the faithful who is not honored with the gift of working 
them. For the gifts of God which are bestowed by him through 
Christ, are various. And thou, indeed, hast received this gift, but 
12? °8 r .' } that man, some other : for perhaps one hath the word of 
wisdom ; another, the word of knowledge ; another, discerning of 
spirits ; another, foreknowledge of things to come ; another, the 
word of teaching ; another, patience ; another, continence accord- 
ing to the law. For even Moses, the man of God, when he wrought 
F £°i: } signs in Egypt, did not exalt himself against the men of his 
nation; and when he was called a god, he did not arrogantly 
J i°o sh ' } despise his own prophet Aaron. Nor did Joshua, the son of 
Nun, who was the leader of the people after him, though, in the 
war with the Jebusites, he had made the sun stand still over against 
Gibeon, and the moon over against the valley of Ajalon, because 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 199 

the day -was not long enough for the victory, insult over Phineas 
or Caleb. Nor did Samuel, who had done so many surprising 
things, disregard David, the beloved of God ; yet they were both 
prophets, and the one was high priest, and the other was king. 
And when there were only seven thousand holy men in { 3 if : In il s ' 
Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal, Elijah alone Jn??; 
among them, and his disciple Elisha, were workers of miracles ; yet 
neither did Elijah despise Abdiah the steward, who { 4Ki 6 ngs ' 
feared God, but wrought no signs ; nor did Elisha despise his own 
disciple, when he trembled at the enemies. Moreover, {£*{£?§. 
neither did the wise Daniel, who was twice delivered from the 
mouths of the lions, nor the three children who were delivered from 
the furnace of fire, despise the rest of their nation. For they knew 
that they had not escaped these terrible miseries by their own 
might, but that they both performed miracles, and were delivered 
from miseries, by the power of God. 

Therefore let none of you exalt himself against his brethren, 
though he be a prophet, or though he be a worker of miracles. 
For if it happen that there be no longer an unbeliever, all the power 
of signs will thenceforward be superfluous ; and to be pious is from 
one's good will, but to work wonders is from the power of Him that 
worketh them by us ; the first of which respecteth ourselves, but 
the second respecteth God that worketh them, for the reasons which 
we have already mentioned. 

Therefore, neither let a king despise the officers that are under 
him ; nor rulers, their subjects. For where there are none to be 
ruled over, rulers are superfluous ; and where there are no officers, 
the kingdom will not stand. 

Moreover, let not a Bishop be exalted against the Deacons and 
the Presbyters ; nor the Presbyters against the people ; for from 
each and all of these is the composition of the congregation ; for the 
Bishops and the Presbyters are Priests of certain persons, and the 
Laity are laymen of certain persons. And, indeed, to be a Chris- 
tian is in our own power ; but to be an Apostle, or a Bishop, or in 
any other such office, is not in our own power, but at the disposal of 
God who bestoweth the gifts. 

Thus much on account of those who have been deemed worthy of 
gifts and dignities. 



200 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

II. 

Concerning unworthy Bishops and Presbyters. 

But to our discourse we add, that neither is every one that 
prophesieth holy, nor every one that casteth out demons, religious ; 
23^24.} for even Balaam the son of Beor, the prophet, prophe- 
11*51} sied, though he was himself wicked; as also did Caiaphas, 
the falsely named high priest. Indeed, even the devil foretelleth 
many things, and the demons about him ; and yet, for all that, there 
is not a spark of piety in them ; for they are oppressed with igno- 
rance, by reason of their voluntary wickedness. It is manifest, 
therefore, that the ungodly, although they prophesy, do not, by their 
prophesying, cover their own impiety ; nor will they who cast out 
demons be sanctified by the demons' being made subject to them ; 
for they only mock one another, as they do who play childish tricks 
for mirth ; and they destroy those who give heed to them. Nor is 
a wicked king any longer a king, but a tyrant ; nor is a Bishop 
oppressed with ignorance or an evil disposition, a Bishop, but falsely 
so called, being not one sent out by God, but by men, as Hananiah 
2sS'29.| and Shemaiah in Jerusalem, and Zedekiah and Achiah 
25andh.} the false prophets in Babylon. And, indeed, Balaam, 
when he had corrupted Israel by Baal-Peor, suffered punishment ; 
iy : ct i4.} and Caiaphas at last was his own murderer; and the sons 
of Sceva, endeavoring to cast out demons, were wounded by them, 
and fled away in an unseemly manner ; and the kings of Israel and 
Judah, when they became wicked, suffered many kinds of punish- 
ment. 

It is therefore evident that Bishops and Presbyters, also, falsely 
so called, will not escape the judgment of God. For it will be said 
i^e 1 ; } to them even now, ye Priests that despise my name, I 
29: 6 22. } w itt deliver you up to the slaughter, as I did Zedekiah and 
Achiah, whom the king of Babylon fried in a frying-pan, as saith 
Jeremiah the prophet. 

We say these things, not in contempt of true prophecies, for we 
know that they are wrought in holy men by the inspiration of God ; 
but to repress the audacity of vain-glorious men. And we add this 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 201 

withal, that from such as these God taketh away his grace^ For 
Grod resistetJi the proud, but giveth grace to the humble, {^fg- 
Indeed, Silas and Agabus have prophesied in our times ; yet they 
have not claimed to be equal to the apostles, nor have they 
exceeded their own measures, though they are beloved of God. 
Besides, women also have prophesied : of old, Miriam, the sister of 
Moses and Aaron ; and, after her, Deborah ; and, after these, Hul- 
dah and Judith ; the former under Josiah, the latter under Darius. 
The mother of our Lord, likewise, prophesied, and her kinswoman 
Elizabeth, and Anna ; and, in our times, the daughters of Philip. 
Yet these were not elated against their husbands, but preserved 
their own measures. Therefore, if among you also there be a man 
or a woman, and such a one obtain any gift, let him be humble, that 



God may be pleased with him. For, saith he, Upon whom {$,\ 
ivill I look, but upon him that is humble and quiet, and trembleth 
at my words ? 



in. 

That to make constitutions concerning those things which are to be 
performed in the churches, is of great consequence. 

We have indeed set forth the first part of this discourse concern- 
ing gifts, whatever they may be, which God hath bestowed upon 
men, according to his own will ; and how he rebuked the ways of 
those who either attempted to speak lies, or were moved by the 
spirit of the adversary ; and that, from the wicked, God often taketh 
away his grace, both as to prophecy and as to the performance of 
miracles. 

But now our discourse hasteneth us to the principal part of the 
portraiture of ecclesiastical affairs, that so, when ye have learned 
this constitution from us, ye who have been ordained Bishops by us, 
conformably to the will of Christ, may perform all things according 
to the commands delivered to us ; knowing that he who heareth us 
heareth Christ, and he who heareth Christ heareth his God and 
Father ; to whom be glory for ever. Amen. 



202 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

IV. 

Concerning Ordinations. 

Wherefore, we the Twelve Apostles of the Lord, who are now 
together, give you in charge these our Divine Constitutions con- 
cerning every ecclesiastical form; there being present with us 
Paul the chosen vessel, our fellow-apostle, and James the Bishop, 
and the rest of the Presbyters, and the seven Deacons. 

In the first place, therefore, I Peter say, that a Bishop to be 
ordained is to be, as we have already all of us appointed, unbla- 
mable in all things, a select person, chosen by the whole people. 
And when he is named and approved, let the people assemble, with 
the Presbytery and Bishops that are present, on the Lord's day ; 
and let them give their consent. And let him who is preferred 
among the rest ask the Presbytery and the people, whether this is 
the person whom they desire for their ruler. And if they give 
their consent, let him ask further, whether he hath a good testimony 
from all men, as to his worthiness for so great and glorious an 
authority ; — whether all things relating to his piety towards God 
are right ; — whether justice towards men hath been observed by 
him ; — whether the affairs of his family have been well ordered by 
him; — whether he hath been unblamable in the course of his life. 
And if all the assembly together do, according to truth and not 
according to prejudice, testify that he is such a one, let them, the 
third time, as before God the Judge, and Christ, the Holy Ghost 
also assuredly being present, and all the holy ministering spirits, 
ask again, whether he is truly worthy of this ministry ; — that so, 
if : at i9.} in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be 
established. And if they agree, the third time, that he is worthy, 
let them all be demanded their vote ; and when they all give it will- 
ingly, let them be heard. And, silence being made, let one of the 
principal Bishops, together with two others, stand near the altar ; 
the resb of the Bishops and Presbyters praying silently, and the 
Deacons holding the holy Gospels open upon the head of him that 
is to be ordained ; and say to God, — 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 203 



Form of Prayer for the ordination of a Bishop. 

thou the Great Being, thou Supreme Ruler, Lord, God Al- 
mighty, who alone art unbegotten and independent ; who always 
art, and wast before the worlds ; who needest nothing, and art above 
all cause and beginning; who only art true, who only art wise ; who 
only art Most High ; who art by nature invisible ; whose knowledge 
is without beginning ; who only art good and incomparable ; who 
knowest all things before they are ; who art acquainted with the 
most secret things ; who art inaccessible, and without a superior ; 
the God and Father of thine only-begotten Son, of our God and 
Saviour ; the Creator of the universe by him ; the Provider, the 
Guardian ; the Father of mercies, and Grod of all consola- { 2 if <£• 
tion ; who dwellest in the highest heavens, and yet lookest down on 
things below ; thou who didst appoint the rules of the church by 
the coming of thy Christ in the flesh, — under the Comforter as 
witness, by thine apostles, and by us the Bishops, who by thy grace 
are here present ; who hast foreordained priests from the beginning, 
for the government of thy people ; Abel in the first place, Seth and 
Enos, and Enoch and Noah, and Melchisedek and Job ; who didst 
appoint Abraham, and the rest of the patriarchs, with thy faithful 
servants Moses and Aaron, and Eleazar and Phineas ; who didst 
choose from among them rulers and priests in the tabernacle of thy 
testimony ; who didst choose Samuel for a priest and a prophet ; 
who didst not leave thy sanctuary without ministers ; who didst 
delight in those whom thou chosest to be glorified in ; do thou thy- 
self, by the mediation of thy Christ, through us, pour down at 
this time the influence of thy free Spirit, which is administered by 
thy beloved Son, Jesus Christ ; which he bestowed, according to thy 
will, on the holy apostles of thee, the eternal God. Grant by thy 
name, God, who searchest the hearts, that this thy servant, whom 
thou hast chosen to be a Bishop, may feed thy holy flock, and dis- 
charge the office of a high priest to thee, and minister to thee un- 
blamably, night and day ; that he may appease thee, and gather 
together the number of those that shall be saved, and may offer to 
thee the gifts of thy holy church. Grant to him, Lord Almighty, 



204 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

through thy Christ, the communion of the Holy Spirit, that so he 
may have power to remit sins according to thy command ; to dis- 
tribute clerical offices according to thine ordinance ; to loose every 
bond, according to the power which thou gavest to the apostles ; 
that he may please thee, in meekness and a pure heart, steadfastly, 
unblamably, irreproachably, while he offereth to thee a pure and 
unbloody sacrifice, which, by thy Christ, thou hast appointed as the 
mystery of the new covenant, for a sweet savor, through thy holy 
child Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour ; through whom glory, 
honor, and worship, be to thee, in the Holy Spirit, now and always, 
and for all ages. 

And when he hath prayed for these things, let the rest of the 
priests add, Amen ; and, together with them, all the people. 

And, after the prayer, let one of the Bishops elevate the sacrifice 
upon the hands of him that is ordained ; and early in the morning 
let him be enthroned, in a place set apart for him, among the rest of 
the Bishops, they all giving him the kiss in the Lord. And after 
the reading of the Law and the Prophets, and our Epistles, and 
Acts, and the Gospels, let him that is ordained salute the church, 
saying, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of our Cod and 
Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Chost, he with you all ; and 
let them all answer, And with thy spirit. And, after the saluta- 
tion, let him speak to the people the words of exhortation ; and when 
he hath ended his instructive discourse, I Andrew, the brother of 
Peter, say, that, while all, having risen, are standing up, let the 
Deacon ascend to some high place and proclaim, Let none of the 
hearers, let none of the unbelievers stay. And silence being made, 
let him say, — 



VI. 

The Divine Liturgy, in ivhich is the bidding Prayer for the Cate- 
chumens. 

Ye catechumens, pray ; and let all the faithful pray for them in 
their mind, saying, Lord, have mercy on them. And let the 
Deacon bid prayers for them, saying, Let us all implore God for 
the catechumens, that He that is good, He that is the lover of man- 
kind, may mercifully hear their prayers and supplications, and so 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 205 

accept their petitions as to assist them, and give them those desires 
of their hearts which are for their advantage ; and reveal to them 
the gospel of his Christ, give them illumination and understanding, 
instruct them in the knowledge of God, teach them his commands 
and his ordinances, implant in them his saving and holy fear, open 
the ears of their hearts, that they may exercise themselves in his 
law day and night ; strengthen them in piety, unite them to and 
number them with his flock, deeming them worthy of the laver of 
regeneration, and the garment of incorruption, which is the true 
life ; and deliver them from all ungodliness, and give no place to the 
adversary against them, but cleanse them from all filthiness \ 2 ^°{: 
of flesh and spirit, and dwell in them, and walk in them by { 6: i6. 
his Christ ; bless their coming in and their going out, and {flofs. 
order their affairs for their good. Let us still earnestly suppli- 
cate for them, that they, obtaining by their initiation the forgiveness 
of their transgressions, may be esteemed worthy of the holy myste- 
ries, and of continuance with the saints. 

Rise up, ye catechumens. Pray ye that ye may have the peace 
of God through Christ ; a peaceful day, and without sin ; and that 
such may be the whole time of your life. Pray that yours may be 
a Christian death. Seek a compassionate and merciful God, and the 
forgiveness of your transgressions. Dedicate yourselves to the only 
unbegotten God, through his Christ. Bow down your heads, and 
receive the blessing. 

But upon the mention of each of these particulars which the Dea- 
con uttereth in bidding to pray, as we said before, let the people 
say, Lord, have mercy ; and let the children say it first. 

And as the catechumens have bowed down their heads, let the 
Bishop who is newly ordained bless them with this blessing : 

God Almighty, unbegotten and inaccessible, who only art the 
true God, the God and Father of thy Christ, thine only-begotten 
Son ; the God of the Comforter, and Lord of the universe ; who by 
Christ didst appoint the disciples to be teachers, that men might 
learn piety ; do thou thyself even now look down upon thy servants 
who are catechized in the gospel of thy Christ, and give them {f ?i2. 
a new heart, and renew a right spirit in their inward parts, that 
they may both know and do thy will with full purpose of heart, and 
with a willing soul. Account them worthy of the holy initiation, 
and unite them to thy holy church, and make them partakers of the 



206 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

holy mysteries, through Christ, our hope, who for them suffered 
death ; through whom glory and worship be given to thee in the 
Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 

And, after this, let the Deacon say, Go out, ye catechumens, in 
peace. 

And after they are gone out, let him say, Ye energumens afflicted 
with unclean spirits, pray ; and let us all earnestly pray for them, 
that God, the lover of mankind, may by Christ rebuke the unclean 
and wicked spirits, and deliver his supplicants from the dominion of 
zeS'i! !:} the adversary. He that rebuked the legion of demons, 
and the prince of wickedness, the devil, may he himself even now 
rebuke these apostates from piety, and deliver his own workmanship 
from their power, and cleanse those whom he hath made with much 
wisdom. Let us still pray earnestly for them. Save them, God, 
and raise them up by thy power. 

Bow down your heads, ye energumens, and receive the blessing. 
And let the Bishop add a prayer, saying, — 



• VII. 

Prayer for the Energumens, 

Thou who hast bound the strong man, and spoiled all that was in 

his house ; who hast given us power over serpents and scorpions to 

tread upon them, and upon all the power of the enemy ; who hast 

delivered the serpent, the murderer of men, bound, to us, as a spar- 

vA. \ r °w to children ; thou whom all things dread, trembling be- 

i£\ e 8.} f° re * ne f ace °f thy power; who hast cast him down as 

lightning from heaven to earth ; not with a fall from a place, 

but from honor to dishonor, on account of his voluntary evil dispo- 

SE 1 ™. } sition ; thou whose look drieth the abysses, and whose threat. 

96: 5. } ening melteth the mountains, and whose truth remaineth 

lie: 2. } for ever ; whom the infants praise, and sucking babes 

9 |: 7. } bless ; whom angels sing hymns to and adore ; who lookest 

103:32.} upon the earth, and makest it tremble; who touchest the 

^lfi*. } mountains, and they smoke; who threatenest the sea, and 

i: 3. } driest it up, and makesfrall its rivers as a desert, and whose 

ft' } clouds are the dust of thy feet ; who zvalkest upon the sea 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 207 

as upon firm ground; thou only-begotten God, the Son of the 
great Father, rebuke these wicked spirits, and deliver the works of 
thy hands from the power of the adverse spirit. For to thee be- 
long glory, honor, and worship, and through thee to thy Father, in 
the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 

And let the Deacon say, Go out, ye energumens ; and, after 
they have gone out, let him cry aloud, Ye that are about to be illu- 
minated, pray. Let all of us the faithful earnestly pray for them, 
that the Lord may deem them worthy, after being initiated into the 
death of Christ, to rise with him, and become partakers of his king- 
dom, and communicants of his mysteries ; — may unite them to 
and number them among those that are saved in his holy church. 
Save them, and raise them up in thy grace. 

Having sealed themselves to God through his Christ, and having 
bowed down their heads, let them receive this blessing from the 
Bishop : — 



VIII. 

Prayer for the persons about to be baptized. 

Thou who hast formerly said by thy prophets to those that were 
to be initiated, Wash ye, become clean ; and hast through Christ 
appointed the spiritual regeneration ; do thou thyself even now look 
upon these that are about to be baptized, and bless them, and sanc- 
tify them, and prepare them, that they may become worthy of thy 
spiritual gift, and of the true adoption ; of thy spiritual mysteries ; 
of being gathered together with those that are saved through Christ 
our Saviour ; through whom glory, honor, and worship, be to thee, in 
the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 

And let the Deacon say, Go out, ye that are about to be illu- 
minated. 

And, after this, let him proclaim, Ye penitents, pray ; and let us 
all earnestly pray for our brethren in the state of penance ; that 
God, the lover of compassion, may show to them the way of repent- 
ance, and accept their return and their confession, and bruise Satan 
under their feet shortly ; and redeem them from the snare {1^20. 
of the devil, and the ill-usage of the demons; and free them from 
every unlawful word, and every absurd practice and wicked thought ; 



208 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

forgive them all their offences, both voluntary and involuntary, and 
Sfili} Wot out the handwriting which is against them, and write 
I*! 1 ; } them in the Book of Life ; cleanse them from all filthi- 
2 7: C i!' I ness °f fl es h an ^ spirit, and restore and unite them to his 
102? ?4. } no ty flock. For he Jcnoweth our frame ; for who can 
!o?9 ' } glory that he hath a clean heart ? And who can boldly say, 
that he is pure from sin f For we are all under penalties. Let us 
is 1 ??! } still P ra y f° r them more earnestly (for there is joy in 
heaven over one sinner that repentetK) ; that, being converted from 
every evil work, they may be joined to all good practice ; that God, 
the lover of mankind, may soon accept their supplications propi- 
sofiS.} tiously ; restore to them the joy of his salvation, and 
strengthen them with his free spirit ; that they may not be any 
more shaken, but be admitted to the communion of his most holy 
things, and become partakers of the divine mysteries ; that, ap- 
pearing worthy of his adoption, they may obtain eternal life. Let 
us all still earnestly say on their account, Lord, have mercy. Save 
them, God, and raise them up by thy mercy. 

When ye have risen up, bow your heads to God, through his 
Christ, and receive the blessing. 

Let the Bishop then add this prayer : — 



IH. 

The imposition of hands, and Prayer for the Penitent, 

Almighty, eternal God, Lord of the universe, the Creator and 
Governor of all things ; who hast exhibited man as the ornament 
of the world through Christ, and didst give him a law both natu- 
rally implanted and written, that he might live according to law, 
as a rational creature ; and, when he had sinned, thou gavest him 
thy goodness as a pledge, in order to his repentance. Look upon 
these persons, who have bowed the neck of their soul and body to 
E !s k ' } tnee > f° r *h° u desirest not the death of a sinner, but his 
33. } repentance, that he turn from his wicked way and live. 
Thou who didst accept the repentance of the Ninevites ; who 



J ° h w } wiliest that all men be saved, and come to the acknowledge 
l 2 Ti ™'} ment °f the irut h>' ^h° didst accept of that son who had 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 209 

consumed his substa7ice in riotous living, with the bowels of { L { l 5 ke ' 
a father, on account of his repentance ; do thou thyself also now 
accept of the repentance of thy supplicants ; because there is no 
man that sinneth not ; for if thou, Lord, markest iniqui- I'sfSf*' 
ties, Lord, who shall stand ? because with thee there is { uT^f. 
propitiation. And do thou restore them to thy holy church, into 
their former dignity and honor, through Christ, our God and 
Saviour, through whom glory and adoration be to thee, in the Holy 
Spirit, for ever. Amen. 

Then let the Deacon say, Depart, ye Penitents. And let him 
add, Let no one of those who have not a right, draw near. All we 
of the faithful, let us bow the knee. Let us entreat God, through 
his Christ; let us all earnestly beseech God, through his Christ. 



The bidding Prayer for the Faithful, 

Let us pray for the peace and welfare of the world, and of the 
holy churches; that the God of the universe may afford us his 
everlasting peace, and such as may not be taken away from us ; 
that he may preserve us in a full prosecution of such virtue as is 
according to godliness. Let us pray for the holy Catholic and 
Apostolic church, which is spread from one end of the earth to the 
other ; that the Lord may preserve and keep it unshaken, and free 
from the waves of this life until the end of the world, as founded 
upon a rock ; and let us pray for this holy parish, that the Lord of 
the universe may deem us worthy, without failure, to follow after 
the heavenly hope, and, without ceasing, to pay him the debt of our 
prayer. Let us pray for every Episcopate which is under the 
whole heaven, of those that rightly divide the word of thy truth. 
And let us pray for our bishop James, and his parishes. Let us 
pray for our bishop Clement, and his parishes. Let us pray for 
our bishop Euodius, and his parishes. Let us pray for our bishop 
Annianus, and his parishes ; that the compassionate God may grant 
them to continue in his holy churches in health, honor, and long 
life, and afford them an honorable old age, in godliness and right- 
eousness. And let us pray for our Presbyters, that the Lord may 
14 



210 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

deliver them from every unreasonable and wicked action, and afford 
them a Presbyterate in health and honor. Let us pray for all the 
Deacons and subordinate servants of the church, that the Lord may 
grant them an unblamable reputation. Let us pray for the Read- 
ers, Singers, Virgins, Widows, and Orphans. 

Let us pray for those that are in marriage and child-bearing ; 
that the Lord may have mercy upon them all. Let us pray for the 
eunuchs, leading a life of sanctity. Let us pray for those persons 
that are in a state of continency and religious abstinence. Let us 
pray for those that bear fruit in the holy church, and give alms to 
the needy. And let us pray for those who offer sacrifices and obla- 
tions to the Lord our God ; that God, the fountain of all goodness, 
may recompense them with his heavenly gifts, and give them in this 
world a hundred fold, and in the world to come life everlasting ; 
and bestow upon them, for their temporal things, those that are eter- 
nal ; for earthly things, those that are heavenly. 

Let us pray for our brethren newly enlightened, that the Lord may 
strengthen and confirm them. Let us pray for our brethren afflicted 
with sickness, that the Lord may deliver them from every disease 
and every malady, and restore them sound to his holy church. 
Let us pray for those that travel by water or by land. Let us 
pray for those that are in the mines, in banishment, in prisons, and 
in bonds, for the name of the Lord. Let us pray for those that are 
worn down with toil in bitter servitude. Let us pray for our ene- 
mies, and those that hate us. Let us pray for those that persecute 
us for the name of the Lord, that the Lord may pacify their anger, 
and cause their wrath against us to pass away. Let us pray for 
those that are without, and have wandered out of the way, that the 
Lord may convert them. Let us be mindful of the infants of the 
church ; that the Lord may perfect them in his fear, and bring them 
to a complete age. Let us pray one for another ; that the Lord 
may keep us by his grace to the end, and deliver us from the evil 
one, and from all the scandals of those that work iniquity, and 
preserve us unto his heavenly kingdom. Let us pray for every 
Christian soul. 

Save us, and raise us up, God, by thy mercy. 

Let us rise up, and let us pray earnestly, and dedicate ourselves 
and one another to the living God, through his Christ. 

Moreover, let the High Priest offer a prayer, and say, — 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 211 

XI. 

Form of Prayer for the Faithful. 

Lord Almighty, the Most High, who dwellest on high, the 
Holy One, that restest among the saints, without beginning, the 
Only Potentate ; who hast given to us, through Christ, the preach- 
ing of knowledge, to the acknowledgment of thy glory, and of thy 
name, which he hath made known to us for our comprehension. 
Do thou thyself even now look down, through him, upon this thy 
flock ; and deliver it from all ignorance and wicked practices ; and 
grant that we may fear thee in earnest, and love thee with affection, 
and have a due reverence of thy glory. Be gracious and merciful 
to them, and hearken to them when they pray unto thee, and keep 
them, that they may be immovable, blameless, and irreproachable ; 
that they may be holy in body and soul, not having spot or wrinkle, 
or any such thing ; but that they may be complete, and no one 
among them may be defective or imperfect. thou powerful 
Defender, who dost not accept persons, be thou the assister of 
this thy people, which thou hast redeemed with the precious blood 
of thy Christ ; be thou their protector, helper, provider, and guard- 
ian, their strong wall of defence, their bulwark and security ; 
because none can snatch out of thy hand ; for there is no \ {^i. 
other God like thee ; — because on thee is our reliance. Sanctify 
them through thy truth; for thy word is truth. Thou who {if^yf, 
doest nothing for favor, thou whom none can deceive, deliver them 
from every disease and every malady, and every offence, every 
injury and deceit, from fear of the enemy, from the dart { ^|f 2 ra 
that flieih in the day, from the mischief that walketh about { 9o.- 6. 
in darkness; and account them worthy of that everlasting life 
which is in Christ, thine only-begotten Son, our God and Saviour ; 
through whom glory and worship be to thee, in the Holy Spirit, now 
and always, and for ever. Amen. 

After this, let the Deacon say, Let us attend. And let the 
Bishop salute the church and say, Tlie peace of God be with you all. 
And let the people answer, And with thy spirit. And let the Dea- 
con say to all, Salute ye one another with a holy kiss. And let the 



212 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

clergy salute the Bishop ; the men of the laity, the men : the wo- 
men, the women. 

Moreover, let the children stand at the reading-desk ; and let 
another Deacon stand by them, that they may not be disorderly. 
And let other Deacons walk about, and watch the men and women, 
that no tumult be made, and that no one nod, or whisper, or slum- 
ber ; and let the Deacons stand at the doors of the men, and the 
Subdeacons at those of the women ; that no one go out, nor a door 
be opened, although it be for one of the faithful, at the time of the 
oblation. And let one of the Subdeacons bring water to wash the 
hands of the Priests ; which is a symbol of the purity of those 
souls that are devoted to God. 



XII. 

A constitution of James, the brother of John, the son of Zebedee. 

Now I also, James, the brother of John, the son of Zebedee, say 
that the Deacon shall immediately proclaim, Let none of the Cate- 
chumens stay here ; let none of the Hearers ; let none of the Unbe- 
lievers ; let none of the Heterodox. Ye who have prayed the first 
prayer, draw near. Let the mothers receive their children. Let 
no one have any thing against any one ; let no one come in hypo- 
crisy ; let us stand upright before the Lord with fear and trembling, 
to offer. 

When this is done, let the Deacons bring the gifts to the Bishop 
at the altar ; and let the Presbyters stand on his right hand and on 
his left, as disciples stand before their master. But let two of the 
Deacons, on each side of the altar, hold a fan, made of thin mem- 
branes, or of the feathers of a peacock, or of fine cloth, and let them 
silently drive away the small animals that fly about, that so they 
may not come near to the cups. 

Let now the High Priest, simultaneously with the Priests, pray by 
himself. And let him put on his shining garments, and stand at the 
altar, and make the sign of the cross upon his forehead, with his 
hand, before all the people, and say, The grace of Almighty God, 
and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy 
Ghost, be with you all. And let all with one voice say, And with 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 213 

thy spirit. The high priest, Lift up your mind. All the people, 
We lift it up unto the Lord. The high priest, Let us give thanks 
to the Lord. All the people, It is meet and right so to do. 

Then let the High Priest say, It is very meet and right before all 
things to sing a hymn to thee, who art the true God, who art before 
all beings ; from whom the whole family in heaven and earth { f^ 
is named; who only art unbegotten, and without beginning, inde- 
pendent, and without a master ; who needest nothing ; who art the 
bestower of every thing that is good ; who art above all cause and 
generation ; who art always and immutably the same ; from whom, 
as from a grand starting place, all things came into being. For 
thou art eternal knowledge, everlasting sight, unbegotten hearing, 
untaught wisdom, the first by nature, and the law to being, and su- 
perior to all number ; who didst bring all things out of nothing into 
being, through thine only-begotten Son, but didst — before all ages, 
by thy will, thy power, and thy goodness, without any intermediate 
agent — beget him, the only-begotten Son, God the Word, the liv- 
ing Wisdom, the First-born of every creature, the Angel {iSlh^'sf'e. 
of thy great Council ; and thy high priest, but the king and Lord of 
every intellectual and sensible nature ; who was before all things, 
and through whom were all things. For thou, eternal God, didst 
through him make all things, and through him thou dost account 
the universe worthy of thy suitable providence ; for by the very 
same by whom thou didst bestow being, thou didst also bestow well- 
being ; — thou, the God and Father of thine only-begotten Son ; 
who by him didst make, before all things, the cherubim and the ser- 
aphim, the aeons and hosts, the powers and authorities, the prin- 
cipalities and thrones, the archangels and angels ; and, after all 
these, didst by him make this visible world, and all things that are 
therein. For thou art He who didst frame the heaven as an arch, 
and stretch it out like the covering of a tent, and didst found the 
earth upon nothing, by thy mere will ; who didst fix the firmament, 
and prepare the night and the day ; who didst bring the light out of 
thy treasures, and on its departure didst bring on darkness, for the 
rest of the living creatures that move up and down in the world ; 
who didst appoint the sun in heaven to rule over the day, and the 
moon to rule over the night ; and didst inscribe in heaven the choir 
of stars to praise thy glorious majesty ; who didst make the water 
for drink, and for cleansing ; the air in which we live, for respira- 



214 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

tion, and for the emission of voice, by means of the tongue, which 
striketh the air, and for hearing, which cooperateth under the im- 
pulse of the air, so that, receiving, it perceiveth the speech that 
falleth upon it ; who madest fire for our consolation in darkness, for 
the supply of our want, and that by it we might be warmed and 
enlightened ; who didst separate the great sea from the land, and 
didst render the former navigable, and the latter fit for walking ; 
and didst replenish the former with living creatures, small and great, 
and fill the latter with tame ones and with wild, — didst adorn 
it with various plants, and crown it with herbs, and beautify it with 
flowers, and enrich it with seeds ; who didst ordain the great deep, 
Jo jer 38 5: 8 22 n '} an ^ bestow upon it a mighty amplitude; seas of salt 
water heaped together, yet didst bound it with barriers of the small- 
est sand ; who sometimes dost raise it to the height of mountains by 
the winds, and sometimes dost smoothe it into a plain ; sometimes 
dost enrage it into a tempest, and sometimes dost still it with a calm, 
that it may be easy to seafaring men in their voyages ; who didst 
encompass this world, which was made by thee through Christ, with 
rivers, and water it with currents, and moisten it with springs that 
never fail, and didst bind it round with mountains, for the immova- 
ble and secure consistence of the earth. For thou hast replenished 
thy world, and adorned it with sweet-smelling and with healing herbs, 
with many and various living creatures, strong and weak, for food 
and for labor, tame and wild, with the noises of creeping things, the 
sounds of various sorts of flying creatures, with the circuits of the 
years, the numbers of months and days, the order of the seasons, the 
courses of the rainy clouds, for the production of the fruits, and the 
support of living creatures. Thou hast also appointed the station of 
the winds, which blow when commanded by thee, and the multitude 
of the plants and herbs. 

And thou hast not only created the world, but hast also made 
man for a citizen of the world, exhibiting him as its ornament. For 
£ e 26.} thou didst say to thy Wisdom, Let us make man according 
to our image, and according to our likeness; and let them have 
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the heaven. 
Wherefore, also, thou hast made him of an immortal soul, and of a 
body liable to dissolution : the former out of nothing, the latter out 
of the four elements ; and hast given him, as to his soul, rational 
discernment, the distinction of piety and impiety, the observing of 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 215 

right and wrong ; and, as to his body, thou hast granted him five 
senses, and progressive motion. For thou, God Almighty, didst, 
by thy Christ, plant a paradise in Eden, in the East, adorned { G | n - 
with various plants, suitable for food, and didst introduce man into 
it, as into a rich banquet ; and, when thou madest him, thou gavest 
him a law, implanted within him, that so he might have at home, 
and within himself, the seeds of the knowledge of God. Moreover, 
when thou hadst brought him into the delightful paradise, thou 
allowedst him the privilege of enjoying all things, only forbidding 
the tasting of one tree, in hope of greater blessings ; that, in 
case he would keep that command, he might receive the reward of 
it, which was immortality : but when he neglected that command, 
and tasted of the forbidden fruit, by the seduction of the serpent, 
and the counsel of his wife, thou didst justly cast him out of para- 
dise ; yet, of thy goodness, thou didst not overlook him, nor suffer 
him to perish utterly ; for he was thy creature. But thou didst 
subject to him the whole creation, and didst grant him liberty to pro- 
cure himself food by his own sweat and labors ; while thou didst 
cause all the fruits of the earth to spring up, to grow, and to ripen. 
And when thou hadst laid him asleep for a little while, thou didst 
with an oath call him to a restoration, didst loose the bond of death, 
and promise him life after the resurrection. And not this only, but 
when thou hadst increased his posterity to an innumerable multi- 
tude, those that continued with thee thou didst glorify, and those 
that apostatized from thee thou didst punish ; and while thou didst 
accept the sacrifice of Abel, as of a holy person, thou didst reject 
the gift of Cain, the murderer of his brother, as of one that was 
abhorred. And, besides these, thou didsfc accept of Seth { Ec 49 US 
and Enos, and didst translate Enoch. For thou art the Creator of 
men, and the giver of life, and the supplier of want, and the giver 
of laws, and the rewarder of those that observe them, and the aven 
ger of those that transgress them ; who didst bring the great flood 
upon the world, by reason of the multitude of the ungodly, and didst 
deliver righteous Noah from that flood by an ark, with eight souls, 
the end of the foregoing generations, and the beginning of those that 
were to come ; who didst kindle a fearful fire against the { G $] 
five cities of Sodom, and didst turn a fruitful land {plE'ioSifi 
into a salt lake, for the wickedness of them that dwelt therein, but 
didst snatch holy Lot out of the conflagration. Thou art He who 



216 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

i^ } didst deliver Abraham from the impiety of his forefathers, 
and didst appoint him to be the heir of the world, and didst cause 
thy Christ to appear to him ; who didst ordain Melchisedek a high 
priest for thy worship ; who didst render thy patient servant Job 
the conqueror of that serpent who is the patron of wickedness ; who 
madest Isaac the son of promise, and Jacob the father of twelve 
46^27.} sons 5 an( ^ didst increase his posterity to a multitude, and 
bring him into Egypt with seventy-five souls. 

Thou, Lord, didst not overlook Joseph, but didst grant him, as a 
reward of his chastity for thy sake, the government over the Egyp- 
E *i d - } tians. Thou, Lord, didst not overlook the Hebrews when 
they were afflicted by the Egyptians, but didst deliver them, on ac- 
count of the promises made to their fathers, and didst punish the 
Egyptians. And when men had corrupted the law of nature, and had 
sometimes esteemed the creation the effect of chance, and sometimes 
honored it more than they ought, and equalled it to the God of the 
universe,— -thou didst not suffer them to go astray, but didst raise 
x & 20!'} U P thy holy servant Moses, and by him didst give the writ- 
ten law, for the assistance of the law of nature, and didst show that 
the creation was thy work, and didst banish away the error of poly- 
theism. Thou didst adorn Aaron and his posterity with the priest- 
hood, and didst punish the Hebrews when they sinned, and receive 
them again when they returned to thee. Thou didst punish the 
Egyptians with a judgment of ten plagues, and didst divide the sea, 
and bring the Israelites through it, and drown and destroy the Egyp- 
tians, who pursued them. Thou didst sweeten the bitter water with 
wood. Thou didst bring water out of the hard rock. Thou didst 
rain manna from heaven, and quails, for food, out of the air. Thou 
didst afford them a pillar of fire by night to give them light, and a 
pillar of a cloud by day, to overshadow them from the heat. Thou 
didst declare Joshua to be the general of the army, and by him 
didst overthrow the seven nations of Canaan. Thou didst divide 
7* a i™} Jordan, and dry up the rivers of Etham. Thou didst over- 
throw walls without instruments, or the hand of man. 

For all these things, glory be to thee, Lord Almighty. Thee 
do the innumerable hosts of angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, 
principalities, authorities, and powers, thine everlasting armies, 
*fff?'} adore. The cherubim, and the six-winged seraphim, with 
twain covering their feet, with twain their heads, and with twain 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 217 



Dan. 
7: 10. 



flying, say, together with thousand thousands of archangels, 
and ten thousand times ten thousand of angels, incessantly, and with 
constant and loud voices, and let all the people say it with them, 
Holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts ; heaven and earth are full { I |f 1 3 h ' 
of his glory. Be thou blessed for ever. Amen. { f?f b \ 

And afterwards let the High Priest say, For thou art truly holy, 
and most holy, the highest and most highly exalted for ever. Holy 
also is thine only-begotten Son, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, 
who in all things ministered to his God and Father, both in thy vari- 
ous creation and in thy suitable providence, and hath not overlooked 
lost mankind. But after the law of nature, after the admonitions in 
the positive law, after the prophetical reproofs, and the attentions of 
the angels, when men had perverted both the positive law and that 
of nature, and had cast out of their mind the memory of the flood, 
the burning of Sodom, the plagues of the Egyptians, and the slaugh- 
ters of the inhabitants of Palestine, and were just ready to perish 
universally, after an unparalleled manner, he himself was pleased 
by thy good will to become man, who was man's Creator ; to be 
under the laws, who was the legislator ; to be a sacrifice, who was a 
High Priest ; to be a sheep, who was the shepherd : and he ap- 
peased thee, his God and Father, and reconciled thee to the world, 
and freed all men from the impending wrath, being born of a 
virgin, and made in flesh, — God the Word, the beloved Son, the 
First-born of the whole creation, — according to the prophecies 
which were foretold concerning him by himself, of the seed of David 
and Abraham, of the tribe of Judah. And in the womb of a virgin 
He was made, who formed all mankind that are born into the world. 
He took flesh, who was without flesh. He who was begotten before 
time, was born in time. He lived holily, and taught according to 
the law. He drove away every sickness and every disease from 
men, and wrought signs and wonders among the people ; and He 
was partaker of meat, and drink, and sleep, who nourisheth all that 
are in need of food, and filleth every living creature with his {ulfS. 
goodness. He manifested his name to those that knew him { $*|?; 
not. He banished ignorance ; he revived piety ; he fulfilled thy 
will. He finished the work which thou gavest him to do. And 
when he had set all these things right, he was seized by the hands of 
the ungodly, of the high priests and priests, falsely so called, and 
of the disobedient people, through the treachery of him who was 



218 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

possessed with wickedness as with a confirmed disease. He suffered 
many things from them, and endured every ignominy, by thy per- 
mission. He was delivered to Pilate, the governor ; and He who 
was the Judge, was judged ; and He who was the Saviour, was con- 
demned. He who was impassible, was nailed to the cross ; and He 
who was by nature immortal, died ; and He who was the Giver of 
life, was buried : that he might deliver from suffering and death 
those for whose sake he came, and might break the bonds of the 
devil, and deliver mankind from his deceit. He rose from the 
dead, the third day ; and when he had continued with his disciples 
forty days, he was taken up into the heavens, and is seated at the 
right hand of thee, who art his God and Father. 

Being mindful, therefore, of those things which he endured for 
our sake, we give thee thanks, Almighty God, not in such a 
manner as we ought, but as we are able, and fulfil his constitution. 
i£°23.} For in the same night in which he was betrayed, he took 
M ie L } bread in his holy and undefined hands ; and, looking up to 
M i4*'} thee, his God and Father, he brake it, and gave it to his 
L || e ' I disciples, saying, This is the mystery of the new covenant. 
Take of it, and eat. This is my body, which is broken for many 
for the remission of sins. In like manner also he took the cup, and 
mixed it of wine and water, and sanctified it, and delivered it to 
them, saying, Drink ye all of it ; for this is my blood which is shed 
for many, for the remission of sins. Do this in remembrance of 
me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do 
show forth my death till I come. 

Being mindful, therefore, of his Passion, and death, and resurrec- 
tion from the dead, and return into the heavens, and his future 
second advent, in which he is to come with glory and power to judge 
the living and the dead, and to recompense to every one accord- 
ing to his works, we offer to thee, our King and our God, according 
to his constitution, this bread and this cup ; giving thee thanks, 
through him, that thou hast thought us worthy to stand before 
thee, and to sacrifice ; and we beseech thee to look propitiously 
upon these gifts, which are here set before thee, thou God, who 
needest none of our offerings, and to accept them to the honor of 
thy Christ, and send down thy Holy Spirit, the Witness of the 
sufferings of the Lord Jesus, that he may show this bread to be the 
body of thy Christ, and the cup to be the blood of thy Christ, in 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 219 

order that those who are partakers thereof may be strengthened for 
piety, may obtain the remission of their sins, may be delivered from 
the devil and his deceit, may be filled with the Holy Ghost, may be 
made worthy of thy Christ, and may obtain eternal life upon thy 
reconciliation to them, Lord Almighty. 

We further pray unto thee, Lord, for thy holy church, spread 
from one end of the world to another, which thou hast purchased 
with the precious blood of thy Christ ; that thou wilt preserve it 
unshaken, and free from disturbance, until the end of the world ; 
and for every episcopate that rightly divideth the word of truth. 

We further implore thee, for me, who am nothing, who offer to 
thee ; for the whole presbytery, for the deacons, and all the clergy, 
that thou wilt make them wise, and replenish them with the Holy 
Spirit. 

We further implore thee, Lord, for the king, and all {^T 1 ™ - 
in authority , and for the whole army ; that they may be peaceable 
towards us, that so, leading the whole time of our life in quietness 
and unanimity, we may glorify thee, through Jesus Christ, {VP™- 
who is our hope. 

We further offer to thee, also, for all those holy persons who 
have pleased thee from the beginning of the world, patriarchs, 
prophets, righteous men, apostles, martyrs, confessors, bishops, 
presbyters, deacons, subdeacons, readers, singers, virgins, widows, 
lay persons, and all whose names thou thyself knowest. 

We further offer to thee, for this people, that thou wilt render 
them to the praise of thy Christ, a royal priesthood, a holy {^f; 
nation ; for those that are in virginity and purity ; for the widows 
of the church ; for those persons who are in honorable marriage and 
child-bearing ; and for the infants of thy people ; that thou wilt cast 
none of us away. 

We further beseech thee, also, for this city and its inhabitants ; 
for those that are sick ; for those that are in bitter servitude ; for 
those that are in banishment ; for those that are in prison ; for 
those that travel by water or by land ; that thou, the Helper and 
Assister of all men, wilt be their Supporter. 

We further implore thee, also, for those that hate us and perse- 
cute us for thy name's sake ; for those that are without, and wander 
out of the way ; that thou wilt convert them to goodness, and pacify 
their anger. 



220 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

We further implore thee, also, for the catechumens of the church ; 
and for those that are vexed by the adversary ; and for our breth- 
ren, the penitents : that thou wilt perfect the first in the faith ; 
that thou wilt deliver the second from the energy of the evil one ; 
and that thou wilt accept the repentance of the last, and forgive 
both them and us our offences. 

We further offer to thee, also, for the good temperature of the 
air, and the fertility of the fruits ; that so, partaking perpetually of 
the good things derived from thee, we may praise thee without 
ulf 25.} ceasing, ivho givest food to all flesh. 

We further implore thee, also, for those who are absent on a just 
cause ; that thou wilt keep us all in piety, and gather us together 
in the kingdom of the Anointed of thee, the God of all nature, 
perceptible and conceivable, our King ; — that thou wilt keep us 
immovable, blameless, irreproachable. For to thee belong all glory, 
worship, and thanksgiving, honor and adoration, to the Father, and 
to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, both now and always, and for 
everlasting and endless ages. 

And let all the people say, Amen. And let the Bishop say, The 
peace of Crod be tvith you all. And let all the people say, And 
with thy spirit. 

And let the Deacon proclaim again, — 



XIII. 

The bidding Prayer for the Faithful, after the divine Oblation. 

Let us still further beseech God, through his Christ, for the gift 
which is offered to the Lord God, that the good God may accept it, 
through the mediation of his Christ, upon his heavenly altar, for a 
sweet-smelling savor. 

Let us pray for this church and people. Let us pray for every 
Episcopate, for every Presbytery, for all the Deacons and Ministers 
in Christ, for the whole body of the church, that the Lord may keep 
and preserve them all. 

l ™f m '} Let us pray for kings, and those who are in authority, 
that they may be peaceable towards us, that so we may have and 
lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 221 

Let us be mindful of the holy martyrs, that we may be thought 
worthy to be partakers of their trial. 

Let us pray for those that are departed in the faith. 

Let us pray for the good temperature of the air, and the perfect 
maturity of the fruits. 

Let us pray for those that are newly enlightened, that they may 
all be strengthened in the faith. 

Let us pray for one another. Raise us up, God, in thy grace. 

Let us stand up, and dedicate ourselves to God, through his 
Christ. 

And let the Bishop say, God, who art great, and whose name 
is great, who art great in counsel, and mighty in works, the God 
and Father of thy holy child Jesus, our Saviour ; look upon us, and 
upon this thy flock, which thou hast chosen through him, to the 
glory of thy name ; and sanctify our body and our soul, and grant 
us the power to be made pure from all filthiness of flesh \ 2 7 ?f/ 
and spirit, and to obtain the good things laid up for us, and account 
no one of us unworthy ; but be thou our Comforter, Helper, and 
Protector, through thy Christ, with whom glory, honor, praise, dox- 
ology, and thanksgiving be to thee, and to the Holy Spirit, for ever. 
Amen. 

And after all have said Amen, let the Deacon say, Let us attend. 
And let the Bishop speak thus to the people, Holy things for holy 
persons. And let the people answer, There is One that is holy ; 
there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, blessed for ever, to the glory of 
God the Father. Amen. Gflory to G-od in the highest, {Ji u 5|; 
and on earth, peace ; good will among men. Hosanna to the Son of 
David. Blessed be he — God the Lord — that cometh in the name 
of the Lord, and hath appeared to us. Hosanna in the highest. 

And after that, let the Bishop partake ; then the Presbyters, and 
the Deacons and Subdeacons, and the Readers, and the Singers, 
and the Ascetics ; and, of the women, the Deaconesses, and the 
Virgins, and the Widows ; afterwards the children, and then all 
the people in order, with reverence and godly fear, without tumult. 

And let the Bishop give the oblation, saying, The body of 
Christ ; and let him that receiveth it say, Amen. And let the 
Deacon take the cup, and when he giveth it, let him say, The blood 
of Christ, the cup of life ; and let him that drinketh say, Amen. 
And let the thirty- third Psalm be said, while all the rest are par- 
taking. 



222 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

And when all, both men and women, have partaken, let the 
Deacons carry what remaineth into the private apartments of the 
church. 

And when the Singer hath done, let the Deacon say, — 



XIV. 

The bidding Prayer after the Participation. 

Having partaken of the precious body and of the precious blood 
of Christ, let us give thanks to Him who hath thought us worthy to 
partake of these his holy mysteries ; and let us implore him that it 
may not be to us for condemnation, but for salvation, to the advan- 
tage of soul and body, to the preservation of piety, to the remission 
of sins, and to the life of the world to come. Let us arise. In the 
grace of Christ let us dedicate ourselves to God, to the only unbe- 
gotten God, and to his Christ. 

And let the Bishop give thanks : — • 



XV. 
Form of Prayer after the Participation. 

Lord God Almighty, the Father of thy Christ, thy blessed 
Son, who hearest those that call upon thee with uprightness, who 
also knowest the supplications of those that are silent ; we thank 
thee that thou hast accounted us worthy to partake of thy holy mys- 
teries, which thou hast bestowed upon us, for the entire confirma- 
tion of those things which we have rightly known, for the preserva- 
tion of piety, for the remission of our offences ; because the name 
of thy Christ is called upon us, and we are joined to thee. 

thou that hast separated us from the communion of the ungodly, 
unite us with those that are consecrated to thee in holiness ; con- 
firm us in the truth by the assistance of thy Holy Spirit. Reveal 
to us the things of which we are ignorant ; supply to us the things 
in which we are defective ; confirm us in the things which we 
already know. Preserve the priests blameless in thy worship ; 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 223 

keep the kings in peace, and the rulers in righteousness ; the air, 
in a good temperature ; the fruits, in fertility ; the world, in an all- 
powerful Providence. Pacify the warring nations. Convert those 
that are gone astray. Sanctify thy people. Keep those that are 
in virginity. Preserve those in fidelity that are in marriage. 
Strengthen those that are in purity. Bring to maturity the little 
ones ; confirm the newly perfected ; instruct the catechumens, and 
render them worthy of admission ; and gather us all together into 
thy kingdom of heaven, through Jesus Christ our Lord ; with whom 
glory, honor, and worship, be to thee, and to the Holy Spirit, for 
ever. Amen. 

And let the Deacon say, Bow down to God, through his Christ, 
and receive the blessing. 

And let the Bishop add this prayer, and say, God Almighty, 
the true God, to whom nothing can be compared ; who art every- 
where, and present in all things, and art in nothing as one of the 
things themselves ; who art not bounded by place, nor grown old 
by time ; who art not terminated by ages, nor deceived by words ; 
who art not subject to generation, and needest no guard ; who art 
above all corruption, free from all change, and invariable by nature ; 
who dwellest in light inaccessible ; who by nature art invis- {\Tu'. 
ible, and yet art known to all reasonable natures who seek thee 
with a good mind ; who art discovered by those that seek after thee 
with a good mind ; the God of Israel, thy people which truly see, 
and which have believed in Christ. Be gracious to me, and hear 
me, for thy name's sake ; and bless those that bow down their necks 
to thee, and grant them the petitions of their hearts, which are for 
their good, and reject no one of them from thy kingdom. But 
sanctify, watch over, protect, and assist them ; deliver them from 
the adversary, and every enemy ; keep their houses, and guard 
their coming in and their going out. For to thee belongeth \iiR 
the glory, praise, majesty, worship, and adoration, and to thy Son 
Jesus, thy Christ, our Lord and God and King, and to the Holy 
Spirit, now, and always, and for ever. Amen. 

And the Deacon shall say, Depart in peace. 

These constitutions concerning this mystical worship, we the 
Apostles ordain for you the Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. 



224 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 



XVI. 

Concerning the ordination of Presbyters, a constitution of John 
ivho was beloved by the Lord. 

Concerning the ordination of Presbyters, I, who was beloved by 
the Lord, make this constitution for you the Bishops : — 

When thou ordainest a Presbyter, Bishop, lay thy hand upon 
his head, in the presence of the Presbyters and Deacons, and pray, 
saying,— 

Lord Almighty, our God, who hast created all things by 
Christ, and dost in like manner take care of the universe by him ; 
for he who had power to make different creatures, hath also power 
to take care of them, according to their different natures. On 
which account, God, thou takest care of immortal beings by 
preservation alone, but of those that are mortal, by succession ; of 
the soul, by the provision of laws ; of the body, by the supply of its 
wants. Do thou thyself, therefore, even now look upon thy holy 
church, and increase it, and multiply those that preside in it, and 
grant them power, that they may labor in word and deed for the 
edification of thy people. Do thou thyself also now look upon this 
thy servant, who is put into the Presbytery by the vote and deter- 
mination of the whole clergy. And do thou replenish him with the 
spirit of grace and counsel, to assist and govern thy people with a 
pure heart, in the same manner in which thou didst look upon thy 
i8: E 2 X 4°fnd28.} chosen people, and didst command Moses to choose 
elders, whom thou didst fill with thy Spirit. And now, Lord, 
bestow and preserve in us the spirit of thy grace, that this person, 
being filled with the gifts of healing and the word of teaching, may 
in meekness instruct thy people, and sincerely serve thee with a 
pure mind and a willing soul ; and may fully discharge the holy 
ministrations for thy people, through thy Christ, with whom glory, 
honor, and worship, be to thee and to the Holy Spirit for ever. 
Amen. 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 225 

XVII. 

Concerning the ordination of Deacons , a constitution of Philip. 

Concerning the ordination of Deacons, I Philip make this consti- 
tution: — Thou shalt ordain a Deacon, Bishop, by laying thy 
hands upon him in the presence of the whole Presbytery and of the 
Deacons, and shalt pray, saying, — 

XVIII. 

Form of Prayer for the ordination of a Deacon. 

God, the Almighty, the true and faithful, who art rich unto all 
that call upon thee in truth ; who art fearful in counsels, and wise 
in understanding ; who art powerful and great ; hear our prayer, 
Lord, and let thine ears receive our supplication, and cause the 
light of thy countenance to shine upon this thy servant, who is 
appointed for thee to the office of a Deacon ; and replenish him 
with thy Holy Spirit and with power, as thou didst replenish 
Stephen, who was thy martyr, and follower of the sufferings of thy 
Christ. And grant that he may discharge acceptably the ministra- 
tion of a Deacon, steadily, unblamably, and without reproof, and be 
accounted worthy of a higher degree ; through the mediation of 
thine only-begotten Son, with whom glory, honor, and worship, be to 
thee, and to the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 

XIX. 

Concerning a Deaconess, a constitution of Bartholomew. 

Concerning a Deaconess, I Bartholomew make this constitution : 
Bishop, thou shalt lay thy hands upon her in the presence of the 
Presbytery, and of the Deacons and Deaconesses ; and shalt say, — 
15 



226 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

XX. 

Form of Prayer for the ordination of a Deaconess. 

eternal God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator 
jSS '4^4 20, } °f man an( ^ °f woman ; who didst with the Spirit re- 
4Khigs, : it 14. } plenish Miriam, and Deborah, and Anna, and Huldah ; 
who didst not disdain that thine only-begotten Son should be born 
of a woman ; who also, in the tabernacle of the testimony and in the 
temple, didst ordain women to be keepers of thy holy gates ; do 
thou thyself also now look upon this thy handmaid, appointed to the 
office of a Deaconess ; and grant her the Holy Spirit, and cleanse 
2 7?l*} her from all filthiness of flesh and spirit; that she may 
worthily discharge the work which is committed to her, unto thy 
glory, and the praise of thy Christ ; with whom glory and adoration 
be to thee, and to the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. & 

XXI. 

Concerning Subdeacons, a constitution of Thomas. 

Concerning Subdeacons, I Thomas make this constitution for you 
the Bishops : — When thou dost ordain a Subdeacon, Bishop, 
thou shalt lay thy hands upon him, and say, — 

Lord God, the Creator of heaven and earth, and of all things 
Fchro'n. 9. } that are therein ; who also, in the tabernacle of the testi- 
mony, didst appoint overseers and keepers of thy holy vessels ; do 
thou thyself also now look upon this thy servant, appointed a Sub- 
deacon ; and grant him the Holy Spirit, that he may worthily han- 
dle the vessels consecrated to thy service, and do thy will always, 
through thy Christ, with whom glory, honor, and worship, be to 
thee, and to the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 227 

XXII. 

Concerning Header's, a constitution of Matthew. 

Concerning Readers, I Matthew, who am also Levi, formerly a 
publican, make this constitution : — Ordain a Reader by laying thy 
hands upon him, and pray to God, saying, — 

eternal God, who art plenteous in mercy and compassions ; 
who hast made manifest the constitution of the world by the things 
that are effectuated, and keepest the number of thine elect ; do 
thou thyself also now look upon thy servant, intrusted to read thy 
Holy Scriptures to thy people ; and grant to him that Holy Spirit 
which was in the prophets. Thou who didst instruct Ezra thy ser- 
vant to read thy laws to thy people, now also instruct thy {^| h - 
servant, in answer to our prayers ; and grant that he may without 
blame perform the work committed to him, and be proved worthy 
of a higher degree, through Christ ; with whom glory and worship 
be to thee, and to the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 



XXIII. 

Concerning Confessors, a constitution of James the son of Alpheus, 

And I James, the son of Alpheus, make this constitution concern- 
ing Confessors : — A Confessor is not appointed. For this is a mat- 
ter of voluntariness and of patience ; and he is worthy of great 
honor, as having confessed the name of God and of his Christ 
before nations and kings. If, however, there be occasion, he is to 
be ordained either a Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon. But if any 
one of the Confessors, who is not ordained, snatch to himself any 
such dignity, on account of his confession, let this person be 
deposed and rejected ; for he is not what he pretendeth to be, since 
he hath denied the constitution of Christ, and is worse than {^f 
an infidel. 



228 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 



XXIV. 

The same apostle's constitution concerning Virgins. 

Concerning Virgins, I, the same apostle, make this constitution : 
1 7: c g;} A Virgin is not appointed; for we have no such command 
from the Lord. The prize pertaineth to a voluntary trial, not for 
the reproach of marriage, but on account of leisure and piety. 



XXV. 

The constitution of Lebbeus, who was surnamed Thaddeus, concern- 
ing Widows. 

And I Lebbeus, surnamed Thaddeus, make this constitution 
concerning Widows : — A Widow is not appointed ; yet if she 
hath lost her husband a long time, and hath lived soberly and 
Jucuth.j. unblamably, and hath taken extraordinary care of her fam- 
ine, i i\y^ as j u dith and Anna, those women of great reputation, 
let her be enrolled in the order of Widows. But if she hath lately 
lost her companion, let her not be confided in, but let her youth be 
judged of by time ; for the passions sometimes grow aged with per- 
sons, if they be not restrained by a better bridle. 



XXVI. 

The same apostle concerning an Exorcist. 

Concerning an Exorcist, I, the same apostle, make this constitu- 
tion : — An Exorcist is not appointed ; for the prize pertaineth to 
voluntary goodness and the grace of God, through Christ, by the 
influence of the Holy Spirit. For he who hath received the gift of 
healing is declared by revelation from God, the grace that is in him 
being manifest to all. But if there be need of him for a Bishop, or 
Presbyter, or Deacon, he is appointed accordingly. 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 229 



XXVII. 

Simon the Cananite, concerning the number necessary for the ordi- 
nation of a Bishop. 

And I, Simon the Cananite, make this constitution determining 
bj how many a Bishop ought to be ordained : — Let a Bishop be 
ordained by three Bishops, or by two. But if any one be ordained 
by one Bishop, let him be deposed, both himself and the Bishop that 
ordained him. If, however, there be a necessity that he have only 
one to ordain him, because more Bishops cannot come together, as 
in time of persecution, or for other similar cause, let him bring the 
suffrage of permission from more Bishops. 



XXVIII. 

The same apostle's canons concerning Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons, 
and the rest of the clergy. 

In respect to canons, I, the same apostle, make this constitution : 
A Bishop blesseth, but doth not receive the blessing. He layeth on 
hands, ordaineth, offereth, receiveth the blessing from Bishops, but 
by no means from Presbyters. A Bishop deposeth any clerical 
person deserving to be deposed, except a Bishop ; for of himself he 
hath not power to do that. 

A Presbyter blesseth, but doth not receive the blessing ; yet he 
receiveth the blessing from the Bishop, or from a fellow-Presbyter. 
In like manner he giveth it to a fellow-Presbyter. He layeth on 
hands, but doth not ordain. He doth not depose ; yet he suspend- 
ed from communion those that are under him, if they be liable to 
such a punishment. 

A Deacon doth not bless, doth not give the blessing, but receiveth 
it from the Bishop and the Presbyter. He doth not baptize ; he 
doth not offer : but, when a Bishop or a Presbyter hath offered, 
he distributed to the people, not as a Priest, but as one that minis- 
tereth to the Priests. But it is not lawful for any one of the other 
clergy to do the work of a Deacon. 



230 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

A Deaconess doth not bless, nor perform any thing belonging to 
the office of Presbyters or Deacons ; but is only to keep the doors, 
and to minister to the Presbyters in the baptizing of women, on 
account of decency. 

A Deacon suspendeth a Subdeacon, a Reader, a Singer, or a 
Deaconess, if there be any occasion, in the absence of a Presbyter. 

It is not lawful for a Subdeacon to suspend any one, whether a 
clerical or a lay person ; nor for a Reader, nor for a Singer, nor for 
a Deaconess ; for they are only attendants, ministering to the 
Deacons. 



XXIX. 

Concerning the blessing of water and of oil, a constitution of Mat- 
thias. 

Concerning the water and the oil, I, Matthias, make this consti- 
tution : — Let the Bishop bless the water or the oil. If, however, he 
be not present, let the Presbyter bless it ; the Deacon standing by. 
But when the Bishop is present, let the Presbyter and the Deacon 
stand by, and let him say thus : — 

Lord of hosts, the God of powers, the Creator of the waters, 
and the Supplier of oil ; who art compassionate, and a Lover of 
lsifis.} mankind; who hast given water for drink and for cleans- 
ing, and oil to give man a cheerful and joyous countenance ; do thou 
thyself also now sanctify this water and this oil, through thy Christ, 
in the name of him or her that hath offered them ; and grant them 
a power to restore health, to drive away diseases, to banish demons, 
and to disperse all snares, through Christ, our hope ; with whom 
glory, honor, and worship, be to thee, and to the Holy Spirit, for 
ever. Amen. 



XXX. 

The same apostle's constitution concerning first-fruits and tithes. 

Concerning first-fruits and tithes, I, the same apostle, further 
enjoin, that all first-fruits be brought to the Bishop, and to the Pres- 
byters, and to the Deacons, for their maintenance ; but let all the 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLT APOSTLES. 231 

tithe be for the maintenance of the rest of the clergy, and of the 
virgins and widows, and of those under the trial of poverty. For 
the first-fruits belong to the Priests, and to the Deacons that minis- 
ter to them. 



XXXI. 

The same apostle's constitution concerning the remaining oblations. 

Concerning the residue, I, the same apostle, make this constitu- 
tion: — Those blessed oblations which remain at the Mysteries, let the 
Deacons distribute among the clergy, according to the mind of the 
Bishop, or of the Presbyters : to a Bishop, four parts ; to a Presby- 
ter, three parts ; to a Deacon, two parts ; and to the rest, the Sub- 
deacons, or Readers, or Singers, or Deaconesses, one part. For 
this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, that every one be 
honored according to his dignity ; for the church is the school, not 
of confusion, but of good order. 



XXXII. 

Various canons of Paul the Apostle, concerning those that present 
themselves to be baptized ; whom we are to receive, and whom to 
reject. 

And I, Paul, the least of the Apostles, make the following consti- 
tutions for you, the Bishops, and Presbyters, and Deacons, in 
respect to canons : — 

Let those that are beginning to come to the mystery of godli- 
ness be brought by the Deacons to the Bishop, or to the Presby- 
ters ; and let them be examined as to the causes of their coming to 
the word of the Lord. And let those that bring them inquire care- 
fully about their character, and give them their testimony. Let 
their habits and their life be inquired into ; and whether they are 
servants or free persons. And if any one be a servant, let him be 
asked who is his master. If he be servant to one of the faithful, 
let his master be asked if he can give him a good character. If 
he cannot, let him be rejected, until he show himself to his master 



232 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

to be worthy. But if he give him a good character, let him be 
admitted. If he be a servant to a heathen, let him be taught to 
lis Ifa, 10.} please his master, that the Word be not blasphemed. If, 
then, he have a wife, or a woman have a husband, let them be 
taught to be content with each other. But if they be unmarried, 
let them learn not to commit fornication, but to enter into lawful 
marriage. But if his master be one of the faithful, and know that 
he is guilty of fornication, and yet do not give to him a wife, or to 
the woman a husband, let him be suspended. 

Moreover, if any one have a demon, let him indeed be taught 
piety, but not received into communion before he be cleansed ; yet 
if death be near, let him be received. 

If any one be a maintainer of harlots, let him either leave off to 
prostitute women, or let him be rejected. If a prostitute come, let 
her cease from her lewdness, or let her be rejected. If a maker of 
idols come, let him either desist from his employment, or let him be 
rejected. If one belonging to the theatre come, whether it be man 
or woman ; or a charioteer, or a dueller, or a racer, or a superin- 
tendent of sports, or an Olympic gamester ; or one that playeth on 
the pipe, or on the lute, or on the harp, at those games ; or a panto- 
mimic dancing-master ; or a keeper of a grog-shop ; let them desist, 
£ n if;} or let them be rejected. If a soldier come, let him be taught 
to do no injustice, to accuse no man falsely, and to be content with 
his allotted stipend. If he comply, let him be received ; but if he 
refuse, let him be rejected. He that is guilty of sins not to be 
named, a sodomite, an effeminate person, a magician, an enchanter, 
an astrologer, a diviner, a user of magic verses, a juggler, a moun- 
tebank, one that maketh amulets, one that goeth round with heath- 
enish ceremonies for purification, a soothsayer, a fortune-teller, an 
observer of palmistry ; he that, when he meeteth another, observeth 
defects of the eyes or of the feet, an observer of birds, or of cats, 
or of noises, or of symbolical sounds ; let these be proved by time, 
for the wickedness is hard to be washed away. And if they leave 
off those practices, let them be received ; but, if they do not agree 
to that, let them be rejected. 

Let a concubine, who is servant to an unbeliever, and confineth 
herself to her master alone, be received ; but, if she be incontinent 
with others, let her be rejected. If one of the faithful have a con- 
cubine, if she be a bond-servant, let him leave off that way, and 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 233 

marry lawfully. If she be a free woman, let him marry her law- 
fully. If he do not, let him be rejected. 

He that followeth the Gentile customs, or the Jewish fables, either 
let him reform, or let him be rejected. If any one follow the sports 
of the theatre, or hunting with dogs, or horse-races, or combats, 
either let him desist, or let him be rejected. 

Let him who is to be catechized, be catechized three years. But 
if any one be diligent, and have a good will in respect to the busi- 
ness, let him be admitted ; for it is not the length of time, but the 
course of life, that is judged. 

He that teacheth, although he be one of the laity, yet, if he be 
skilful in the Word, and grave in his manners, let him teach. For 
they shall be all taught of God. {l?\l: 

Every one of the faithful, whether male or female, when they 
rise from sleep, before they go to work, when they have washed 
themselves, let them pray. If, moreover, any catechetical instruc- 
tion be held, let the faithful person prefer to his work the word of 
piety. 

Let the believer, whether man or woman, treat servants { J^J- t 
kindly, as we have ordained in the foregoing books, and {pwiem. 
have taught in our Epistles. 



XXXIII. 

On what days servants are not to work. 

I Paul, and I Peter, make this constitution: — Let the servants 
work five days ; but on the Sabbath, and on the Lord's day, let them 
have leisure to go to church, for the doctrine of piety. We have said 
that the Sabbath is on account of the creation, but the Lord's day 
on account of the resurrection. Let servants rest from their work 
all the Great Week, and that which followeth it ; for the one is in 
memory of the Passion, and the other of the Resurrection. And 
there is need of their being instructed who it is that suffered, and 
rose again ; and who it is that permitted him to suffer, and raised 
him again. Let them have rest from their work on the Ascension, 
because it was the conclusion of the dispensation by Christ. Let 
them rest at Pentecost, on account of the coming of the Holy Spirit, 



234 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

which was given to those that believed in Christ. Let them rest on 
the festival of his Birth ; for then the unexpected favor was bestowed 
on men, that the Word of God, Jesus Christ, was born of the virgin 
Mar j, for the salvation of the world. Let them rest on the festival 
of the Epiphany ; for then there was made a manifestation of the 
divinity of Christ, the Father bearing him testimony at his baptism ; 
and the Comforter, in the form of a dove, indicating to those who 
were present, the individual respecting whom the testimony was 
borne. Let them rest on the days of the Apostles ; for they were 
constituted your teachers in respect to Christ, and have deemed you 
worthy of the Spirit. Let them rest on the day of Stephen, the 
first martyr ; and on the days of the other holy martyrs, who have 
esteemed Christ more precious than their own life. 



XXXIY. 

At what hours, and why, we are to pray. 

Offer up your prayers at the dawn of day, and at the third hour, 
and the sixth, and the ninth, and at evening, and at cock-crowing : — 
at the dawn, returning thanks, because the Lord hath sent you 
light, hath led away the night, and brought on the day ; at the 
third hour, because at that hour the Lord received the sentence of 
condemnation from Pilate ; at the sixth, because at that hour he was 
crucified ; at the ninth, because all things were in commotion at the 
crucifixion of the Lord, as trembling at the bold attempt of the 
wicked Jews, and not bearing the injury offered to the Lord ; at 
evening, giving thanks, because he hath given you the night, a 
season of repose from the daily labors ; and at cock-crowing, because 
that hour bringeth the good news of the coming of the day, for the 
performance of works requiring the light. 

But if it be not possible to go to the church, on account of the 
unbelievers, thou, Bishop, shalt assemble the faithful in some 
house, that a godly man may not enter into an assembly of the 
ungodly. For it is not the place that sanctifieth the man, but the 
man the place. And if the ungodly possess the place, avoid thou 
it, because it is profaned by them ; for as holy priests sanctify a 
place, so the profane defile it. If it be not possible to assemble 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 235 



either in the church or in a house, let every one by himself sing, 
and read, and pray, or two or three together. For where {iKo. 
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the 
midst of them. 

Let not one of the faithful pray with a catechumen ; no, not even 
privately. For it is not reasonable that he who is initiated should 
be polluted with one not initiated. 

Let not one of the godly pray with a heretic ; no, not even pri- 
vately. For ivhat fellowship hath light with darkness? { a 6?fE 

Let believers, man or woman, connected with servants, withdraw 
themselves from the illicit intercourse, or be rejected from the 
church. 



XXXV. 

A constitution of James, the brother of Christ, concerning Evening 

Prayer. 

I James, the brother of Christ according to the flesh, but his 
servant as the only-begotten God, and one appointed Bishop of 
Jerusalem by the Lord himself and the apostles, ordain thus : — 

When it is evening, thou, Bishop, shalt assemble the church ; 
and, after the repetition of the Psalm at the lighting-up of the lights, 
the Deacon shall bid prayers for the catechumens, the energumens, 
the persons about to be baptized, and the penitents, as we have 
before said. But after the dismission of these, the Deacon shall 
say, So many as are of the faithful, let us pray to the Lord. And 
after he hath bidden the supplications contained in the first prayer 
for the faithful, he shall say, — 



XXXVI. 

A bidding Prayer for the Evening. 

Save us, God, and raise us up by thy Christ. 

Let us stand up, and ask for the mercies of the Lord and his 
compassions ; for the angel of peace ; for what things are good and 
profitable ; for a Christian departure out of this life ; an evening 



236 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

and a night of peace, and free from sin. And let us entreat that 
the whole course of our life may be unblamable. Let us dedicate 
ourselves and one another to the living God, through his Christ. 
And let the Bishop add this prayer, and say, — 



XXXVII. 

A Thanksgiving for the Evening. 

God, who art without beginning and without end, the Maker of 
the universe through Christ, and the Provider for it ; but, before all, 
his God and Father ; the Lord of the Spirit, and the King of exist- 
ences conceivable and perceptible ; who hast made the day for the 
works of light, and the night for the refreshment of our infirmity. 
7^fi™} For the day is thine ; the night also is thine. Thou hast 
prepared the light and the sun. Do thou thyself now, Lord, 
thou lover of mankind, and fountain of all good, mercifully accept 
this our evening thanksgiving. Thou who hast brought us through 
the length of the day, and hast brought us to the beginning of the 
night, preserve us by thy Christ ; afford us a peaceful evening, and 
a night free from sin ; and account us worthy of everlasting life, by 
thy Christ ; through whom glory, honor, and worship, be to thee in 
the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 

And let the Deacon say, Bow down for the laying-on of hands. 
And let the Bishop say, — 

God of our fathers, and Lord of mercy, who by thy Wisdom 
didst form man a rational creature, and beloved of God more than the 
other beings on earth ; and didst give him authority to rule over 
the earth, and didst ordain, by thy will, rulers and priests ; the 
former for the security of life, the latter for a regular worship ; — 
do thou thyself now also look down, Lord Almighty, and cause 
thy face to shine upon thy people, who bow down the neck of their 
heart ; and bless them by thy Christ ; through whom thou hast 
enlightened us with the light of knowledge, and hast revealed thy- 
self to us ; and with whom worthy adoration is due from every 
rational and holy nature to thee in the Holy Spirit the Comforter, 
for ever. Amen. 

And let the Deacon say, Depart in peace. 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 237 

In like manner in the morning, after the repetition of the morn- 
ing Psalm, and his dismission of the catechumens, the energumens, 
the candidates for baptism, and the penitents, and after the usual 
bidding of prayers (that we may not repeat the same things), let 
the Deacon add, after the words, Save us, Grod, and raise us up 
in thy grace, the following : — 

Let us beg of the Lord his mercies and his compassions ; that 
this morning, and this day, and all the time of our sojourning, may 
be peaceful, and without sin ; that he will grant us his angel of 
peace ; that our departure out of this life may be a Christian 
departure ; and that God will be merciful and gracious. Let us 
dedicate ourselves, and one another, to the living God, through his 
only-begotten. 

And let the Bishop offer this prayer, and say, — 



XXXVIII. 

A Thanksgiving for the Morning. 

God, the God of spirits and of all flesh, who art beyond com- 
parison, and needest nothing ; who hast given the sun to rule over 
the day, and the moon and the stars to rule over the night ; do 
thou thyself also now look upon us with gracious eyes, and receive 
our morning thanksgivings ; and have mercy upon us. For we 
have not spread out our hands to a strange God; for there {SfSo. 
is not among us any new God, but thou the eternal God, who art 
without end ; who hast given us our being through Christ, and 
given us our well-being through him. Do thou thyself also bestow 
upon us, through him, eternal life ; with whom glory, and honor, 
and worship, be to thee, and to the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 

And let the Deacon say, Bow down for the laying-on of hands. 
And let the Bishop add this prayer, saying, — 



238 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BO OK VIII. 

XXXIX. 

A Prayer, with imposition of hands for the Morning. 

God, who art faithful and true ; who hast mercy on thousands 
3?and2o.} an( ^ * en thousands of them that love thee; who art the 
lover of the humble, and the protector of the needy ; of whom all 
things stand in need, for all things are subject to thee ; look upon this 
thy people, who bow down their heads to thee ; and bless them with 
T ilff.} spiritual blessings. Keep them as the apple of an eye. Pre- 
serve them in piety and righteousness, and account them worthy of 
eternal life, in Christ Jesus, thy beloved Son ; with whom glory, 
honor, and worship, be to thee, and to the Holy Spirit, now, and 
always, and for ever. Amen. 

And let the Deacon say, Depart in peace. 

And when the first-fruits are offered, the Bishop giveth thanks in 
this manner : — 

XL. 

Form of Prayer for the First-fruits. 

We give thanks to thee, Lord Almighty, the Creator of the 
universe, and its Preserver, through thine only-begotten Son, Jesus 
Christ our Lord, for the first-fruits ; which are offered to thee, not 
in such a manner as we ought, but as we are able. For who among 
men can worthily give thee thanks for those things which thou hast 
given them to participate ? Thou the God of Abraham, and of 
Isaac, and of Jacob, and of all the saints ; who madest all things 
fruitful by thy Word, and didst command the earth to bring forth 
various fruits for our rejoicing and our food ; who hast given juices 
to the more dull and sluggish sort of creatures ; herbs to them that 
feed on herbs ; and to some, flesh ; to others, seeds ; but to us, 
grain, as advantageous and proper food ; and many other things ; 
some for our necessities, some for our health, and some for our 
pleasure. On all these accounts, therefore, thou art worthy of 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 239 

exalted hymns of praise for thy beneficence by Christ ; through 
whom glory, honor, and worship, be to thee, in the Holy Spirit, for 
ever. Amen. 

Moreover, concerning those who are at rest in Christ, the Dea- 
con, after he hath bidden the supplications contained in the first 
prayer for the faithful (that we may not repeat it), shall add as 
follow eth : — 



XLI. 

A bidding Prayer for those who have fallen asleep. 

Let us pray for our brethren that are at rest in Christ, that God, 
the lover of mankind, who hath received the soul of the person 
departed, may forgive him every sin, voluntary and involuntary ; 
and may be merciful and gracious to him ; and give him his lot in 
the land of the pious, that are sent into the bosom of Abraham, 
and Isaac, and Jacob, with all those that have pleased him, and 
done his will, from the beginning of the world ; whence all sorrow, 
grief, and lamentation, are banished. 

Let us arise ; and let us dedicate ourselves, and one another, to 
the eternal God, through that Word which was in the beginning. 

And let the Bishop say, — 

thou who art by nature immortal, and hast no end of thy 
being ; from whom every creature, whether immortal or mortal, is 
derived ; who didst make man a rational, living creature, the citi- 
zen of this world, in his constitution mortal, and didst add the 
promise of a resurrection ; who didst not suffer Enoch and Elias to 
taste of death ; — thou, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and 
the God of Jacob ; who art the God of them, not as of {iifii 
dead, but as of living persons. For the souls of all men live with 
thee ; and the spirits of the righteous are in thy hand, and {J.?¥; 
no torment can touch them ; for they are all sanctified under thy 
hand. Do thou thyself also now look upon this thy servant, whom 
thou hast selected and received into another state ; and forgive him, 
if voluntarily or involuntarily he hath sinned ; and afford him mer- 
ciful angels, and place him in the bosom of the patriarchs, and 
prophets, and apostles, and of all those that have pleased thee from 
the beginning of the world, where there is no grief, nor sorrow, nor 



240 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

lamentation ; but the peaceful region of the godly, the undisturbed 
land of the upright, and of those that therein see the glory of thy 
Christ ; through whom glory, honor, and worship, thanksgiving and 
adoration, be to thee in the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 

And let the Deacon say, Bow clown, and receive the blessing. 
And let the Bishop give thanks for them, saying as followeth : — 
^iiff.} Lord, save thy people, and bless thine inheritance, which 
thou hast purchased with the precious blood of thy Christ. Feed 
them under thy right hand, and cover them under thy wings ; and 
2 £}f:} grant that they may fight the good fight, and finish their 
course, and keep the faith, firmly, unblamably, and irreproachably, 
through our Lord Jesus Christ, thy beloved Son ; with whom glory, 
honor, and worship be to thee, in the Holy Spirit, for ever. Amen. 



XLII. 

How and when we ought to celebrate the memory of the faithful 
departed ; and that we ought then to give someivhat out of their 
goods to the poor. 

Let the third day of the departed be celebrated with psalms, and 
lessons, and prayers, on account of him who arose within the space 
of three days. And let the ninth day be celebrated in remembrance 
of the living, and of the departed ; and the fortieth day, according 
to the ancient pattern ; for so did the people lament Moses, and 
?4: U 8! } observe the anniversary in memory of him. 

And let alms be given to the poor out of the goods of the person 
departed, for a memorial of him. 



XLIII. 

That memorials or mandates do not at all profit those who die 

wicked. 

These things we say concerning the pious ; for as to the ungodly, 
thou wilt not benefit such a person at all, if thou give all the world 
to the poor. For to whom the Deity was an enemy while he was 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 241 



alive, it is certain he will be also when he is departed ; for { ffig; 

there is no unrighteousness with him. For the Lord is { Tof 8? 

righteous, and hath loved righteousness. And, Behold the { lit 1 1 1 .* 
man and his work. 



XLIV. 

Concerning Drunkards. 

Now when ye are invited to the celebration of the memory of 
the departed, feast ye with good order and in the fear of God, as 
disposed to intercede for those that are departed. For since ye are 
the Presbyters and Deacons of Christ, ye ought always to be sober, 
both among yourselves and among others ; that so ye may be able 
to warn the unruly. Now the Scripture saith, The men in { \{?\ 
power are passionate. But let them not drink wine, lest, by drink- 
ing, they forget wisdom, and be not able to judge aright. And 
certainly the Presbyters and the Deacons, after God Almighty and 
his beloved Son, are rulers of the church. We say this, not that 
they are not to drink at all ; for otherwise it would be to the 
reproach of what God hath made for cheerfulness ; but that they 
be not disordered with wine. For the Scripture doth not say, 
Drink not wine. But what saith it ? Drink not wine to { p 3 r | v - 
drunkenness. And again, Thorns spring up in the hand { f?^. 
of the drunkard. / Eccius. 

Nor do we say this to those only who are of the clergy, but also 
to every Christian of the laity, upon whom the name of our Lord 
Jesus Christ is called. For to them also it is said, Who hath woe ? 
Who hath tumult f Who hath contentions and babbling f {23^291 
Who hath livid eyes ? Who hath wounds without cause ? Do not 
these things belong to those that tarry long at the wine, and that 
go to seek where there is drinking ? 
16 



242 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

XLV. 

Of receiving those that are persecuted for Christ's sake. 

Receive ye those that are persecuted on account of the faith, 
ioh$: \ an ^ wno nee fr° m c % to city, as mindful of the words of 
26:4i.} the Lord. For knowing that though the spirit be willing, 
the flesh is weak, they flee away, and prefer the spoiling of their 
goods, that they may preserve the name of Christ in themselves 
without denying it. Supply them, therefore, with what they 
need, and fulfil the Lord's command. 

XLVI. 

That every one ought to remain in that rank in which he is placed, 
and not seize for himself those offices ivhich are not intrusted to 
him. 

Now this we all in common proclaim, that every one remain in 
that rank which is appointed him, and transgress not the limits ; 
for they are not ours, but God's. For saith the Lord, He that 
io: X i6'} heareth you,heareth me; and he that hear eth me, hear eth 
m a to.} Sim that sent me. And, Se that despiseth you, despiseth 
$%\} me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth Sim that sent me. 

For if those things that are without life observe good order, as 
the night, the day, the sun, the moon, the stars, the elements, the 
seasons, the months, the weeks, the days, the hours ; and are 
subservient to the uses appointed them, according to that which is 
io!^.} sa ^> Thou hast set them a bound which they shall not pass ; 
38?io.} an d again, concerning the sea, I have set bounds to it, and 
have encompassed it with bars and gates ; and I said to it, Hitherto 
shalt thou come, but no further ; — how much more ought ye not 
to dare to remove those things which we, according fco the will of 
God, have determined for you ? But because many think this a 
small matter, and venture to confound the orders, and to remove 
the ordination which belongeth to them severally, snatching to 
themselves in a stealthy manner dignities which were never given 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 243 

them, and allowing themselves to bestow arbitrarily that authority 
which they have not themselves, and thereby provoke God to 
anger (as did the followers of Corah and King Uzziah, { ^ u 6 m 
who, having no authority, usurped the High Priesthood, j 2 ^ 011 
without commission from God ; and the former were burnt with fire, 
and the latter was struck with leprosy in his forehead) ; and exas- 
perate Christ Jesus, who hath made the constitution ; and also 
grieve the Holy Spirit, and make void his testimony ; therefore — ■ 
foreknowing the danger that hangeth over those who do such things, 
and the neglect about the sacrifices and eucharistical offices which 
will arise from their being impiously offered by those who ought not 
to offer them ; who think the honor of the High Priesthood, which 
is an imitation of the great High Priest Jesus Christ our king, to 
be a matter of sport — we have found it necessary to give you 
warning in this matter also ; for some are already turned aside after 
their own vanity. 

We say that Moses, the servant of God (to whom God {if : u 7 m 8 , 
spahe face to face, as if a man spake to his friend ; to { Jf£f; 
whom he said, i" know thee above all men ; to whom he spake { 3.3: 17. 
directly, and not by obscure methods, or dreams, or angels, or enig- 
mas) — this person, when he made constitutions and divine laws, dis- 
tinguished what things were to be performed by the High Priests, 
what by the Priests, and what by the Levites ; distributing to every 
one his proper and suitable office in the divine service. And those 
things which were allotted for the High Priests to do, might not be 
meddled with by the Priests ; and those things which were allotted 
to the Priests might not be meddled with by the Levites ; ( K £ m - 
but the persons of each order observed those ministrations which 
were written down and appointed for them. And if any one would 
meddle beyond the tradition, death was his punishment. 

Moreover, the experience of Saul showeth this most plainly, who, 
thinking that he might offer sacrifice without the Prophet and High 
Priest Samuel, drew upon himself a sin and a curse with- l 11 ^ 5, 
out remedy. Nor did even his having anointed him king discourage 
the Prophet. Besides, God showed the same by a more visible 
effect in the case of Uzziah, when, without delay, he ex- {? c 2 h 6 TOn 
acted the punishment due to his transgression ; and he that madly 
coveted after the High Priesthood was rejected even from his 
kingdom. 



244 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

As to those things which have happened among us, ye yourselves 
are not ignorant. For ye know perfectly that those who are by us 
named Bishops, and Presbyters, and Deacons, were made by prayer 
and by the laying-on of hands ; and that by the difference of the 
names, is indicated the difference of their employments. For not 
every one that will is ordained, as the case was in that spurious 
3 5!fl '} an ^ counterfeit Priesthood of the calves under Jeroboam. 
For if there were no rule, or distinction of orders, it would suffice 
to perform all the offices under one name. But being taught by 
the Lord the series of things, we distributed the functions of the 
High Priesthood to the Bishops, those of the Priesthood to the 
Presbyters, and the ministration under them both to the Deacons ; 
that the divine worship might be performed in purity. 

For it is not lawful for a Deacon to offer the sacrifice, or to 
baptize, or to give the blessing, either small or great. Nor may a 
Presbyter perform ordination ; for it is not agreeable to holiness to 
u?si'.} nave order overturned. For Grod is not the author of con- 
fusion, that the subordinate persons should arbitrarily assume to 
themselves the functions belonging to their superiors, forming a new 
scheme of laws to their own hurt, not knowing that it is hard 
t? S' } f or them to kick against the pricks. For such as these do 
not fight against us, nor against the Bishops, but against the 
universal Bishop, even the High Priest of the Father, Jesus Christ 
our Lord. 

High Priests, Priests, and Levites, were ordained by Moses, 
the most beloved of God. By our Saviour, we, the thirteen 
Apostles, were ordained ; and by the Apostles, I James, and I 
Clement, and others with us (that we may not make the cata- 
logue of all those Bishops over again). Moreover, by us all in 
common were ordained Presbyters, and Deacons, and Subdeacons, 
and Readers. 

The most eminent High Priest, therefore, who is so by nature, is 
Christ the Only-begotten ; not having seized that honor for himself, 
but having been by the Father appointed ; who, being made man for 
our sake, and offering the spiritual sacrifice to his God and Father, 
before his suffering, gave it to us alone in charge to do this ; 
although there were with us others who had believed in him. But 
he that believeth is not presently appointed a Priest, nor obtaineth 
the dignity of the High Priesthood. And after his ascension we 



BOOK VIII.J THE HOLY APOSTLES. 245 

offered, according to his constitution, the pure and unbloody sacri- 
fice ; and ordained Bishops, and Presbyters, and Deacons seven in 
number ; one of whom was Stephen, the blessed martyr, { 6 and S i. 
who was not inferior to us, as to his pious disposition of mind to- 
wards God ; and who manifested so great piety by his faith and love 
towards our Lord Jesus Christ, as to give his life for him ; and was 
stoned to death by the Jews, the murderers of the Lord. But, 
nevertheless, this man, such and so great, who was fervent in 
spirit ; who saw Christ on the right hand of God, and the gates of 
heaven opened, — doth nowhere appear to have exercised functions 
which did not appertain to his office of a Deacon, nor to have offered 
the sacrifices, nor to have laid hands upon any, but to have kept 
his order of a Deacon unto the end. For so it became him, who was 
a martyr for Christ, to preserve good order. But if some blame 
Philip our Deacon, and Ananias our faithful brother, that the one 
baptized the eunuch, and the other me Paul, these men do not 
understand what we say. For we have affirmed only that no one 
snatcheth the sacerdotal dignity to himself, but receiveth it, either 
from God, as Melchisedek and Job, or from the High Priest, as 
Aaron from Moses. Therefore, Philip and Ananias did not consti- 
tute themselves, but were appointed by Christ, the High Priest of 
that God to whom no being is to be compared. 



XLVII. 

The Ecclesiastical Canons of the same holy Apostles. 

I. Let a Bishop be ordained by two or three Bishops. 

II. Let a Presbyter be ordained by one Bishop ; as also a Dea- 
con and the rest of the clergy. 

in. If any Bishop or Presbyter, contrary to what our Lord hath 
ordained concerning the sacrifice, offer any other things at the altar 
of God, as honey, or milk, or strong drink instead of wine, or sweet- 
meats, or birds, or any animals, or pulse, let the transgressor be 
deposed. 



246 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

iv. Except grains of new corn, or bunches of grapes, in their 
season, and oil for the holy lamp, and incense in the time of the 
divine oblation, let it not be lawful that any thing be brought to 
the altar. 

v. But let all other fruits be sent to the house of the Bishop, as 
first-fruits for him and for the Presbyters, but not to the altar. 
Now it is plain that the Bishop and the Presbyters are to divide 
them to the Deacons, and to the rest of the clergy. 

vi. Let not a Bishop, or a Presbyter, or a Deacon, cast off his 
own wife, under pretence of piety ; but if he cast her off, let him be 
suspended. If he continue to do it, let him be deposed. 

vn. Let not a Bishop, or a Presbyter, or a Deacon, undertake 
the cares of this world ; but if he do, let him be deposed. 

viii. If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, shall celebrate the 
holy day of the Passover before the vernal equinox, with the Jews, 
let him be deposed. 

ix. If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, or any one of the 
catalogue of the priesthood, when an oblation is made, do not com- 
municate, let him mention his reason ; and if it be just, let him be 
forgiven ; but if he do not mention it, let him be suspended, as 
becoming a cause of damage to the people, and occasioning a suspi- 
cion against him that offered. 

x. All those of the faithful that enter into the holy church of 
God, and hear the Sacred Scriptures, but do not stay during prayer 
and the holy communion, must be suspended, as causing disorder in 
the church. 

xi. If any one, even privately, pray with a person excommuni- 
cated, let him be suspended. 

xn. If any clergyman pray with one deposed, as with a clergy- 
man, let him also himself be deposed. 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 247 

xiii. If any clergyman or layman who is suspended, or ought 
not to be received, go away, and be received in another city, with- 
out commendatory letters, let both those who have received him, 
and him that is received, be suspended. But if he be already 
suspended, let the suspension be prolonged upon him, as lying to 
and deceiving the church of God. 

xiv. A Bishop ought not to leave his own parish and leap into 
another, although he should be urged by very many, unless there 
be some reasonable cause compelling him to do this, as the prospect 
of greater usefulness ; and this not merely in his own estimation, 
but also according to the judgment of many Bishops, and the most 
urgent entreaty. 

xv. If any Presbyter or Deacon, or any one of the catalogue of 
the clergy, leave his own parish, and go to another, and, entirely 
removing himself, continue in that other parish, without the consent 
of his own Bishop, him we command no longer to go on in his min- 
istry ; especially in case his Bishop call upon him to return, and he 
do not obey, but continue in disorder. However, let him communi- 
cate there as a layman. 

xvi. But if the Bishop with whom they are, disregard the depri- 
vation decreed against them, and receive them as clergymen, let 
him be suspended, as a teacher of disorder. 

xvii. He who hath been twice jnarried after his baptism, or 
hath had a concubine, cannot be a Bishop, or a Presbyter, or a 
Deacon, or any one of the sacerdotal catalogue. 

xviii. He who hath married a divorced woman, or a harlot, or 
a servant, or one belonging to the theatre, cannot be a Bishop, or 
a Presbyter, or a Deacon, or any one of the sacerdotal catalogue. 

xix. He who hath married two sisters, or his brother's or sister's 
daughter, cannot be a clergyman. 

xx. Let a clergyman who becometh a surety, be deposed. 



\ 

248 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

XXI. A eunuch, if he be such by the injury of men, or his testi- 
cles were taken away in a persecution, or he was born such, and 
yet is worthy, let him be made a Bishop. 

xxn. He who hath mutilated himself, let him not be made a 
clergyman ; for he is a self-murderer, and an enemy to the creation 
of God. 

xxiii. If any one who is of the clergy mutilate himself, let him 
be deposed ; for he is a murderer of himself. 

xxiv. If a layman mutilate himself, let him be suspended three 
years. 

xxv. A Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, who is taken in for- 
nication, or perjury, or stealing, let him be deposed, and not sus- 
£ e 9;} pended ; for the Scripture saith, Thou shalt not avenge 
twice for the same crime, by affliction. 

xxvi. In like manner also, the rest of the clergy. 



\ 



xxvii. Of those who come into the clergy unmarried, we per- 
mit only the Readers and the Singers, if they have a mind, to marry 
afterwards. 

xxviil. We command that a Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, 
who striketh the faithful that offend, or the unbelievers who do 
wickedly, and thinketh to terrify them by such means, be deposed ; 
for our Lord hath nowhere taught us such things. On the con- 
2 : P 23:} trary, when he himself was stricken, he did not strike again ; 
when he was reviled, he reviled not again ; when he suffered, he 
threatened not. 

xxix. If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, who is deposed 
justly for manifest crimes, venture to meddle with that ministration 
which was once intrusted to him, let him be entirely cut off from 
the church. 

XXX. Mf any Bishop obtain by money that dignity, or a Presby- 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 249 

ter, or a Deacon, let him, and the person who ordained him, be 
deposed ; and let him be entirely cut off from communion, as Simon 
Magus was by me Peter. 

xxxi. If any Bishop make use of the rulers of this world, and 
by their means obtain the power over a church, let him be deposed, 
and let all that communicate with him be suspended. 

xxxii. If any Presbyter despise his own Bishop, and make a 
separate assembly, and fix another altar, when he hath nothing to 
condemn in his Bishop, as to piety and righteousness, let him be 
deposed, as an ambitious person ; for he is a tyrant ; and the rest 
of the clergy, as many as join themselves to him. And let the laity 
be suspended. But let these things be done after one, and a 
second, and a third admonition from the Bishop. 

xxxiii. If any Presbyter or Deacon be put under suspension 
by his Bishop, it is not lawful for any other to receive him than the 
Bishop who put him under suspension, unless it happen that this 
Bishop die. 

xxxiv. Do not receive any stranger, whether Bishop, or Pres- 
byter, or Deacon, without commendatory letters ; and even when 
such are presented, let the strangers be examined ; and if they be 
preachers of piety, let them be received ; but if not, supply their 
wants, but do not receive them to communion ; for many things are 
done by surprise. 

xxxv. The Bishops of each province ought to know who is the 
chief among them, and to esteem him as their head, and not to do 
any great thing without his consent ; but every one to manage only 
the affairs that belong to his own parish, and the places subject to 
it. But neither let the chief Bishop do any thing without the 
consent of all ; for thus there will be unanimity, and God will be 
glorified by Christ, in the Holy Spirit. 

xxxvi. A Bishop must not venture to ordain out of his own 
bounds, for cities or countries that are not subject to him. But if 
he be convicted of having done so, without the consent of such as 



250 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

govern those cities or countries, let him be deposed, and those whom 
he hath ordained. 

xxxvii. If any Bishop that is ordained do not undertake his 
office, nor take care of the people committed to him, let him be 
suspended until he do undertake it ; and, in like manner, a Pres- 
byter and a Deacon. But if he go, and be not received, not 
because of the want of his own consent, but because of the ill-temper 
of the people, let him continue Bishop ; but let the clergy of that 
city be suspended, because they have not taught that disobedient 
people better. 

xxxviii. Let a council of Bishops be held twice in the year ; 
and let them ask one another the doctrines of piety ; and let them 
determine the ecclesiastical disputes that happen : once in the fourth 
week of Pentecost, and again on the twelfth of October. 

xxxix. Let the Bishops have the care of all the ecclesiastical 
possessions, and administer them as in the presence of God. But it 
is not lawful for him to appropriate any part of them to himself, or 
to give the things of God to his own kindred. But if they be poor, 
let him support them as poor ; but let him not, under such pretences, 
alienate the property of the church. 

xl. Let not the Presbyters and Deacons do any thing without 
the consent of the Bishop ; for it is he who is intrusted with the 
people of the Lord, and will be required to give an account of their 
souls. 

Let the proper goods of the Bishop, if he have any, and those 
belonging to the Lord, be openly distinguished ; that he may have 
power, when he dieth, to leave his own goods as he may please, and 
to whom he may please ; that, under pretence of the ecclesiastical 
revenues, the Bishop's own may not come short, who sometimes 
hath a wife and children, or kindred, or servants. For this is just 
before God and men, that neither the church suffer any loss by 
ignorance of the affairs of the Bishop ; nor his kindred, under pre- 
tence of the church, be injured, or his relations fall into lawsuits, 
and so his death be liable to reproach. 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 251 

xli. We command that the Bishop have power over the goods 
of the church ; for if he be intrusted with the precious souls of men, 
much more ought he to give directions about goods, that, under his 
authority, they all be distributed by the Presbyters and Deacons to 
those in want, and be administered in the fear of God, and with all 
pious caution. He is also to partake of those things he needeth (if 
he need) for his necessary occasions, and those of the brethren 
who live with him, that they may not, by any means, suffer destitu- 
tion. For the law of God appointed that those who waited at the 
altar should be maintained by the altar ; since not so much as a 
soldier, at any time, beareth arms against the enemies, at his own 
charges. 

xlii. If a Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, indulge himself in 
dice or in excessive drinking, either let him leave off those prac- 
tices, or let him be deposed. 

xliii. If a Subdeacon, or a Reader, or a Singer, do the like, 
either let him leave off, or let him be suspended. In like manner 
also, a layman. 

xliv. If a Bishop, or a Presbyter, or a Deacon, require usury 
of those to whom he lendeth, either let him leave off to do so, or let 
him be deposed. 

xlv. If a Bishop, or a Presbyter, or a Deacon, only pray with 
heretics, let him be suspended ; but if he also permit them to per- 
form any part of the office of a clergyman, let him be deposed. 

XL vi. We command that a Bishop, or a Presbyter, or a Deacon, 
who receiveth the baptism or the sacrifice of heretics, be deposed ; 
for tvhat agreement is there between Christ and Belial ? or {\?{l\ 
what part hath a believer with an infidel f 

XL vii. If a Bishop or a Presbyter rebaptize him who hath had 
true baptism, or do not baptize him who is polluted by the ungodly, 
let him be deposed, as ridiculing the cross and the death of Christ, 
and not distinguishing real priests from counterfeit ones. 



252 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

xlviii. If any layman divorce his own wife, and take another, 
or one divorced by another, let him be suspended. 

xlix. If any Bishop or Presbyter do not baptize, according to 
the Lord's constitution, into the Father, and the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost, but into three beings without beginning, or into three Sons, 
or into three Comforters, let him be deposed. 

L. If any Bishop or Presbyter do not perform three immersions 
of one initiation, but one immersion which is given into the death of 
Christ, let him be deposed ; for the Lord did not say, Baptize into 
my death ; but, Cro ye and make disciples of all nations , baptizing 
them into the name of the Father ', and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Grhost. Do ye, therefore, Bishops, baptize thrice into one Father, 
and Son, and Holy Ghost, according to the will of Christ and our 
constitution by the Spirit. 

li. If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, or indeed any one of 
the sacerdotal catalogue, abstain from flesh and wine, not for his 
own exercise, but out of hatred of the things, forgetting that all 
Ge i:26. 31 '} things were very good, and that Gfod made man male 
and female, and blasphemously abuse the creation, either let him 
reform or let him be deposed, and be cast out of the church. In 
like manner also, let a layman be disciplined. 

LIT. If any Bishop pr Presbyter do not receive him that returneth 
from his sin, but reject him, let him be deposed ; because he griev- 
i5. k £} eth Christ, who saith, There is joy in heaven over one sinner 
that repenteth. 

Lin. If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, do not, on festival 
days, partake of flesh or wine (abominating them, and not for his 
x £f;\ own exercise), let him be deposed, as having a seared con- 
science, and becoming a cause of scandal to many. 

Liv. If any one of the clergy be taken eating in a tavern, let 
him be suspended ; excepting when, by necessity, he stoppeth at an 
inn upon the road. 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 253 



lv. If any one of the clergy abuse his Bishop, let him be 
deposed ; for thou slialt not speak evil of the ruler of { 
thy people. 



Exod. 22: 28, and 
Acts, 23: 5. 



lvi. If any one of the clergy abuse a Presbyter or a Deacon, 
let him be suspended. 

lvii. If any one of the clergy mock at a lame, or deaf, or blind 
man, or at one afflicted in his feet, let him be suspended. And the 
like for the laity. 

lyiii. If a Bishop or a Presbyter take no care of the clergy or 
the people, and do not instruct them in piety, let him be suspended ; 
and if he continue in his negligence, let him be deposed. 

Lix. If any Bishop or Presbyter, when any one of the clergy is 
in want, do not supply his necessity, let him be suspended ; and if 
he persevere, let him be deposed, as having killed his brother. 

lx. If any one publicly read in the church the spurious books of 
the ungodly, as if they were holy, to the destruction of the people 
and of the clergy, let him be deposed. 

lxi. If there be an accusation against a Christian for fornica- 
tion, or adultery, or any other forbidden action, and he be convicted, 
let him not be promoted into the clergy. 

lxii. If any one of the clergy, for fear of men, as of a Jew, or 
of a Gentile, or of a heretic, shall deny the name of Christ, let him 
be suspended ; but if he deny the name of a clergyman, let him be 
deposed ; but when he repenteth, let him be received as a layman. 

lxiii. If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, or indeed any 
one of the sacerdotal catalogue, eat flesh with the blood of its life, 
or that which is torn by beasts, or which died of itself, let him be 
deposed; for this the law hath forbidden; {*%^\$fi£ r iP- 1 *' 
but if he be a layman, let him be suspended. 

lxiv. If any one of the clergy be found to fast on the Lord's 



254 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BO OK VIII. 

day, or on the Sabbath, excepting one only, let him be deposed ; 
but if the person be a layman, let him be suspended. 

lxv. If any clergyman or layman enter into a synagogue of the 
Jews or of the heretics to pray, let him be deposed and suspended. 

lxvi. If any of the clergy strike one in a quarrel, and kill him 
by that one stroke, let him be deposed, on account of his rashness ; 
but if the offender be a layman, let him be suspended. 

lxvii. If any one violate a virgin not betrothed, and keep her, 
let him be suspended. Moreover, it is not lawful for him to marry 
another, but he must retain her whom he hath chosen, although she 
be poor. 

lxviii. If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, receive a 
second ordination from any one, let him be deposed, and the man 
who ordained him, unless he can show that his former ordination 
was from the heretics ; for those that are either baptized or ordained 
by such as these, can be neither Christians nor clergymen. 

lxix. If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, or Reader, or 
Singer, do not keep the holy Quadragesimal fast, or do not fast on 
the fourth day of the week, or on the Preparation, let him be 
deposed, unless he be hindered by weakness of body ; but if the 
offender be a layman, let him be suspended. 

lxx. If any Bishop, or any other of the clergy, fast with the 
Jews, or keep the festivals with them, or accept of the presents from 
their festivals, as unleavened bread, or any such thing, let him be 
deposed ; but if the offender be a layman, let him be suspended. 

lxxi. If any Christian carry oil into a heathen temple, or into 
a synagogue of the Jews, or light up lamps in their festivals, let 
him be suspended. 

lxxii. If any clergyman or layman take away wax or oil from 
the holy church, let him be suspended, and let him add a fifth part 
bfii \ to that which he took away. 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 255 

lxxiii. A vessel of silver or of gold, or linen, that has been con- 
secrated, let no one appropriate to his own use ; for it is unjust : 
but if any one be caught, let him be punished with suspension. 

lxxiv. If a Bishop be accused of any crime by credible and 
faithful persons, it is necessary that he be cited by the Bishops ; 
and if he come, and confess, or be convicted, let his punishment be 
determined. But if, when he is cited, he do not obey, let him be 
cited a second time, two Bishops being sent to him ; but if then he 
despise them, and will not come, let the council pass what sentence 
they please against him ; that he may not appear to gain advan- 
tage by avoiding their judgment. 

lxxv. Admit not a heretic for a testimony against a Bishop, 
nor indeed one Christian only; for the law saith, In the {i?fi|; 
mouth of two or three witnesses, every word shall he established, 

lxxvi. A Bishop must not, by human affection, confer favors 
on a brother, or a son, or other kinsman ; for we must not put the 
church of God under the laws of inheritance ; but if any one shall 
do this, let the ordination be invalid, and let him be punished with 
suspension. 

lxxvii. If any one be maimed in an eye, or lame of his leg, 
but is worthy, let him be made a Bishop ; for it is not a blemish of 
the body that can defile him, but the pollution of the soul. 

lxxviii. But if he be deaf and blind, let him not be made a 
Bishop ; not as being a defiled person, but that the ecclesiastical 
affairs may not be hindered. 

lxxix. If any one have a demon, let him not be made one of 
the clergy. Nay, let him not pray with the faithful ; but when he 
is cleansed, let him be received ; and if he be worthy, let him be 
ordained. 

lxxx. It is not right to appoint him a Bishop immediately who 
is just come in from the Gentiles, and baptized, or from a bad mode 
of life ; for it is unjust that he who hath not yet afforded any trial 



256 CONSTITUTIONS OF [BOOK VIII. 

of himself should be a teacher of others, unless it anywhere happen 
by divine grace. 

lxxxi. We have said that a Bishop ought not to let himself 
down to civil offices, but to occupy himself with the necessary affairs 
of the church. Either, therefore, let him be persuaded not to do so, 
or let him be deposed ; for no one can serve two masters, {5?% 
according to the Lord's admonition. 

lxxxii. That servants be chosen into the clergy without then- 
master's consent, we do not permit, on account of the grief of the 
owners. For such a practice would occasion the subversion of fami- 
lies. But if at any time a servant appear worthy of advancement 
to ordination, as our Onesimus appeared, and his masters consent, 
and give him his freedom, and dismiss him from their house, let 
him be ordained. 

lxxxiii. Let a Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, who inclulgeth 
himself in military service, and desireth to retain both the Roman 
magistracy and the sacerdotal administration, be deposed ; for the 
things of Cwsar belong to Cossar, and the things of Gfod to G-od. 

lxxxiv. Whosoever shall abuse a king or a governor, let him 
suffer punishment ; and if he be a clergyman, let him be deposed ; 
but if he be a layman, let him be suspended. 

lxxxv. Let the following books be esteemed venerable and 
holy by you all, both of the clergy and of the laity : — Of the Old 
Covenant, the five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, 
Numbers, and Deuteronomy ; one of Joshua, the son of Nun ; one 
of the Judges; one of Ruth; four of the Kings; two of the Chron- 
icles ; two of Esra; one of Esther; | one of Judith ;\ three of the 
Maccabees ; one of Job ; one of the Psalms ; three of Solomon, 
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs; of the Tivelve 
Prophets, one j of Isaiah, one ; of Jeremiah, one ; of Ezehiel, one ; 
of Daniel, one. And besides these, take care that your young per- 
sons learn the Wisdom of the very learned Sirach. But our sacred 
books, that is, those of the New Covenant, are these : — The four 
Gospels, of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John ; fourteen epistles of 



BOOK VIII.] THE HOLY APOSTLES. 257 

Paul ; two epistles of Peter ; three of John ; one of James ; one 
of Jude ; two epistles of Clement, and the Constitutions dedicated 
to you the Bishops, by me Clement, in eight books, -which it is not 
proper to publish before all, because of the mysteries contained in 
them ; and the Acts of us, the Apostles. 

Let these canonical arrangements be established by us, for you, 
ye Bishops ; and if ye continue to observe them, ye shall be saved, 
and shall have peace ; but if ye be disobedient, ye shall be pun- 
ished, and have perpetual war, one with another, undergoing a 
penalty suitable to your disobedience. 

Now God who alone is unbegotten, and the Maker of the whole 
world, unite you all through his peace, in the Holy Spirit ; perfect 
you unto every good work, immovable, unblamable, and unreprov- 
able ; and vouchsafe to you eternal life, with us, through the media- 
tion of his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our God and Saviour ; with 
whom glory be to him, the God and Father over all, in the Holy 
Spirit, the Comforter, now, and always, and for ever and ever. 
Amen. 



COKKECTIONS. 

Page 252, in Canon li. between the words from and flesh, insert the words marriage, 
andfrom. 
Page 253, in Canon lxii. for suspended, read cast out. 
Page 474, in 1. 17, for Baden, read Orleans. 



17 



AN ESSAY, 



HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL, 



THE ORIGIN AND CONTENTS 



OF 



THE APOSTOLICAL CONSTITUTIONS. 



j 






CONTENTS 



Page. 
Introduction, 267 

Difficulty of the investigation on the Origin of the Constitutions. — Its importance. 
— In what the task consists. 



CHAPTER I. 

Historical Sketch op the various Opinions respecting the Consti- 
tutions, 271 

Editions. — Most ancient opinion, that the Constitutions are of apostolic origin. — 
Ballarmin holds them to be an apocryphal writing. — Others follow him. — 
Petavius distinguishes them from the Constitutions of Epiphanius. — Bona 
thinks that they are more ancient than the Nicene Council. — On the contrary, 
Tillemont. — Others place them in ihe third century. Du Pin holds them to 
be interpolated by an Arian. — Merits and opinion of Cotelerius. 

The Protestants reject the Constitutions, except Montacutius and Whiston, 275. 

— Blondell ascribes them to the author of the Recognitions, but was refuted. 

— Refutation of Beveridge, who ascribes them to Clement of Alexandria. — 
Refutation of Pearson's opinion, that the Constitutions were, after the time of 
Epiphanius, collected out of the ' Instructions ' of the Apostles ; and of the 
similar opinion of Grabe, which he founded on the decree concerning the cele- 
bration of the Passover or Easter. — Incredibility of Whiston's opinion. — Bar- 
atier holds the Constitutions to be not interpolated, and to be a production of 
the second century. — Bingham holds them to be a little corrupted, and to be 
descended from the third and the fourth century. — Bruno and Le Clerc hold 
Leontius to be the author. — Spanheim thinks that a part of the Constitutions 
was in use in the third century. — James and Samuel Basnage's opinions. — 
The Constitutions which Epiphanius had, and those which we have, are not 
distinguished from each other by their extent. — Ittig holds them to have arisen 
in the fourth, but to have been interpolated in the sixth century. — Usher like- 
wise. — On the work and opinions of Daille. 



262 CONTENTS. 

The Magdeburg Centuries do not treat of the Constitutions, 289. — Mosheim's 
judgment. — Schroeckh thinks that they were written by some oriental Bishop 
in the beginning of the fourth century. — Cotta also. — Stark says, they are a 
collection of ancient and less ancient ecclesiastical laws. — Schmidt's opinion. — 
Rosenmuller's. — Augusti's. — On Kestner's Agape. — Gieseler's opinion. — 
Neander's. 



CHAPTER II 



Discussion of the External Testimonies respecting the Constitu- 
tions, 303 

Testimonies of Eusebius and Athanasius. 

Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. b. iii. c. 25. On the Synopsis of Athanasius. — Whether 
the Constitutions quoted in Eusebius and Athanasius are ours. — Testimonies 
of Nicephorus of Constantinople, and Nicephorus Callisti. — Conjecture of two 
editions of the Constitutions. — Testimonies of Zonaras and of Matthew Bias- 
tares. — Our Constitutions are denominated didacnaMa. — Why the Arians did 
not cite the Constitutions. 



Comparison of the Testimonies of Epiphanius with those of the second Trullan 
Canon, and of Photius, 310 

Comparison of our Constitutions with those of Epiphanius. — Difference between 
them in fixing the festival of Easter. — Our Constitutions are those of Epipha- 
nius, but interpolated. — The Trullan Canon rejects the Constitutions. 



Concerning the Testimony of the Incomplete Work on Matiheio (on Matth. 6 : 3 and 
Matth. 25 : 18), 317 

On the age of this Commentary. — On the quoting of the Constitutions in it. 



On the Testimony of Maximus, 319 

On the Testimony of Timotheus the Presbyter, 320 



On the Testimony of Nicetas Pectoratus and of Cardinal Humbert, 321 

The origin of their Testimonies. 



On the Testimony of later authors, ■ 325 



CONTENTS. 263 

On the Testimony of the last apostolical canon, and the relation of the Canons to 
the Constitutions, 326 

On the number of the Canons. — Testimonies concerning them. — On then- origin. 
— Their name. — On the testimony of Jerome in his Epist. 52, to Lucinius. — 
Comparison of the Canons and the Constitutions. — The last canon is from the 
end of the fourth century ; probably from the author of the eighth book of the 
Constitutions. 



CHAPTER III. 

On the Apostles as Authors op the Constitutions, and on Clement 
of Rome as Collector of them, 337 

On the Apostles as authors of the Constitutions, 337 

All the precepts are put into the mouths of the apostles. — Mention of Clement 
in the Constitutions. 

On the meaning of the name Clement in the apostolical Constitutions, 342 

Who ascribes the Constitutions to Clement. 



On the historical Clement, 343 

On the first Bishops of Rome. — The first epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, 
interpolated. — The second, the fragment of a homily, not from Clement. 



Clement, a collective name, denoting a circle of traditions of the first three cen- 
turies, 347 



On the Recognitions. — The pseudo- Clementine Homilies. — Two epistles of 
Clement in the Syrian church. — On the first epistle of Clement to James. — 
On the second, and the other writings. — Causes of these forgeries. 



CHAPTER IV 



Determination op the Age of the Constitutions, and Inquiry re- 
specting the First Seven Books, 353 



On the Opinion that the Constitutions are composed of parts which were once dis- 
tinct works. 353 

Form and style of the Constitutions. 



264 CONTENTS. 

Determination of the age of the Constitutions, 357 

To make out the author is impossible. — Separation of the eighth book from the 
others. — The external testimonies show their existence before the fourth cen- 
tury. — Their contents indicate then* origin towards the end of the third century. 
— They have the impress of the age of Cyprian. — The eighth book was pre- 
pared in the end of the fourth or the beginning of the fifth century. 



Investigation on the First Book of the Constitutions, 360 

Contents. — Prohibition of heathen books. — Prohibition of promiscuous bathing. 
— Command that the females wear a veil on the head when in the streets. 



On the Second Book, 362 

Eeadmission of the Penitents and such as had fallen away. — Analogous opinions 
of Cyprian. — Development of Jewish theocratic ideas. — The Bishop, as rep- 
resenting or personating the church. — Ordines Minores.' — On the Deacon — 
Tribunal of the Bishops. — Three Jameses in the Constitutions. — Litters 
commendaticias. 



On the Third Book, 374 

Widows. — In this book they are not identical with Deaconesses. — Informing the 
poor who it is that has done them kindnesses. — Eight to baptize — Anointing 
in baptism. — The doxology in the Lord's Prayer. — Ordination of Bishops. 



On the Fourth Book, 380 

Allusion is made to a persecution of the Christians. — Distinct order of Virgins. 



On the Fifth Book, 385 

The duty of being prudent and yet firm in persecutions. — Martyrdom of Cate- 
chumens. — Besurrection of the body. — The Sibylline books. — Christmas. — 
Judas not present at the Lord's Supper. — Fasting on "Wednesday and Friday. 
— Celebration of the Sabbath. — Celebration of Easter. — Fasting in Easter- 
week. — The vigils on the Magnum Sabbatum. — Baptism at that time. — 
KvpianTj tov Qtopa. — Festival of the Ascension. — Pentecost or Whitsunday. — 
Octave of Pentecost. — Festival of the Trinity among the Latins. — The Fes- 
tival of the saints among the Greeks. 



On the Sixth Book, 403 

The denounced heresies. — The Ebionitcs. — Simon Magus, father of the Gnos- 
tics. i\ collective name. — Nicolaitans. — Rejection of the baptism of the here- 
tics. — Commendation of the baptism of children. — On the law. — The singing 
of hymns at funerals. 



CONTENTS. 265 

On the Seventh Book, 413 

It contains a recapitulation of what precedes. — Application of the baptismal 
formula. — On the Lord's Prayer. — Liturgical form for the celebration of the 
Lord's Supper. — Forced baptism. — Hosanna to the Son of David. — Mapa- 
va&a. — Oblations. — Laying of hands upon Catechumens. — The renunciation 
of Satan ; the creed ; the adhesion to Christ. — Double anointing. — Confirma- 
tion. — Administration of baptism. — The great Doxology. — The vfivog ioxepc- 
vbg. — The -pooQuvrjotc en&vxvtog. 



CHAPTE R V. 



On the Interpolations which the First Seven Books of the Con- 
stitutions HAVE SUFFERED, 425 

The Interpolations have arisen from a dogmatic interest, for the purpose of giving 
currency to the Arian and Macedonian theories. 



On the time when these Interpolations were undertaken, 429 

The corruption falls between the time of Epiphanius and of the Trullan Council. 
— Probably towards the end of the fourth century. 



Interpolations not doctrinal, that are found in the first seven books of the Con- 
stitutions, 431 

Why the Christians, in prayer, turn themselves towards the east. — Mention of 
the uhpoarixia. — Custom of standing while the Gospel is read. — Having sev- 
eral sermons delivered in succession. — ^akfiog endvxvioc and eu&ivbg, Psalm for 
the evening, and for the morning. — Mention of Christmas and of Epiphany.— 
Investigation respecting those festivals. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Investigation on the Eighth Book of the Constitutions, 440 

On the question whether the Eighth Book be a whole, or consist of several parts, 440 
Comparison of some manuscripts with the eighth book. — The eighth book con- 
sists of single parts, yet not of instructions of apostolic men. — It contains a 
complete liturgy. — A glance at other Oriental liturgies. 
This eighth book places before our eyes the state of the liturgy and of the church 
in the time of Chrysostom. 



266 CONTENTS. 

Particular investigation on the Eighth Book, 447 

Conjecture of some that Hippolytus is the author. — Participation of the people 
in the choice of clergymen. The Gospel is laid on the head of the clergyman 
in his ordination. — Prayer for the Catechumens. — Prayer for the Energumens. 
Comparison with Chrysostom. — Prayer for the Penitents — The Trpoa6uv7jaic 
and the emufajou; ruv morfiv. — Complete liturgy of the Lord's Supper. — 
Kegulations concerning the ordination of Presbyters, Exorcists, and other serv- 
ants of the church. — Distribution of what remains of the oblations. — Mention 
of Christmas and Epiphany. — Appointment of the hours for prayer. — Morn- 
ing and evening devotions. — Prayer for those who have fallen asleep. 



CHAPTER VII. 

On the Plan and Object op the apostolical Constitutions, 460 

The leading ideas in preparing the Constitutions were the idea of the elevation of 
the Bishops, and especially the idea of the catholic church. — A short historical 
survey of the development and progress of the idea of the catholic church, to 
the time of the Constitutions. — An inspection, showing that, throughout these 
Constitutions, are found the idea of the catholic church, and the idea of the 
Levitical priesthood. 



INTRODUCTION. 



It may be regarded as an acknowledged truth, that ecclesiastical 
history, — the great image of the spiritual development of mankind, 
which exhibits the contest of the Gospel, not only with the external 
world, but also with the internal opposition in men, — can be 
carried to perfection only when its immense materials have been 
sufficiently prepared by preliminary labors on particular subjects. 
As, in the progress of literary enterprise, monographs have por- 
trayed to us the men who were preeminent in the life of the church ; 
as they have conducted us into the depths of the inner life of those 
men ; described the means by which their characters were formed ; 
and brought before us, in a lively manner, their great influence, full 
of interest for all ; ecclesiastical history has unquestionably gained 
in truth and power. 

Not less profitable, indeed altogether necessary, must be investi- 
gations that seek, by a careful study of the original documents 
and by a fair and thorough criticism, to solve the many difficult 
problems which hitherto have not been sufficiently examined. 
They must afford to general ecclesiastical history many results 
which it cannot itself gain ; since it lies in the nature of the thing, 
that problems, the explanation of w T hich rests upon an exact con- 
sideration of a great multitude of original documents, can be 
thoroughly prosecuted only in particular investigations. 



268 INTRODUCTION. 

Such a problem is the origin of the so-called Apostolical Consti- 
tutions, ascribed to Clement of Rome. It may well be called one 
of the most difficult and important in the early history of the church. 
It is attended -with peculiar difficulty, since the external testimonies 
respecting this book have been much doubted, and even wholly 
denied. Some of them stand even in contradiction to the Constitu- 
tions ; and hence there is need of a careful examination to show 
that these testimonies can still be admitted, and to gain in them an 
historical point of fixture, on which the discussion of the internal 
evidences, for the determination of the age of the Constitutions, can 
fasten itself. This proof from internal evidences can be brought 
only by a comparison of dogmas, church usages, and arrangements 
pertaining to discipline. It has, however, this difficulty, that, since 
a writing can mention doctrinal opinions and especially ecclesiastical 
arrangements, from a time earlier than its rise, and even quote 
them as at its time still remaining and valid, this comparison can be 
performed only with the greatest caution. Besides, a writing never 
bears on it such an impress of its time, that many things which 
belong to an earlier period might not be found in it as matters of 
history. Hence, such mentioning and quoting can be no decisive 
proofs of an earlier time for a writing, if there are other things 
which manifestly point to a later age ; and, least of all, if it is a 
writing which, according to its plan and object, appropriates to itself 
as much as possible the characteristics of an earlier time, in order 
that its pretended origin may be acknowledged. 

This investigation is also one of the most important for ecclesias- 
tical history. The Constitutions, it is true, have never exerted so 
great and extended an influence as the canons ; partly, because 
their form is unsuitable ; and partly because in the ancient church 
they were little known, and were rejected at an early period, as 
being interpolated and heretical. But they are one of the most 
important sources for Christian archaeology, for what pertains to the 
forms of public worship, and for many points of ecclesiastical history. 
However the investigation concerning their origin may turn out, and 



INTRODUCTION. 269 

in "whatever time we may place their rise, they still give us, not- 
withstanding the design to represent the apostolic time, a very 
manifest picture of their own time. The design itself to which the 
Constitutions owe their origin, and the plan which is followed in 
them, will serve to make the picture of their own age complete. 
Especially do we learn from them the whole ritual and disciplinary 
arrangement of the Christian church, the instruction which she 
imparted, the state of her teachers and ministers, and the full form 
of her public worship. If a fundamental, well-authenticated knowl- 
edge of these things, as they have been variously modified in all 
ages, is highly desirable and necessary, their state in the first cen- 
turies must be peculiarly worthy of the attention and inquiry of 
every theologian who wishes to understand clearly the development 
of the Christian life and of the structure of the church. But of 
all the ancient writings, the Constitutions contribute the most to the 
establishment of correct views respecting the Christian worship and 
ecclesiastical arrangements of that period. 

This has often been acknowledged \ and yet there has hitherto 
been no adequate investigation respecting the Constitutions. We 
have, indeed, from some learned men of an earlier time, several 
comprehensive works on the subject ; but they came forward as 
controvertists, and the object in their investigations was only to gain 
a negative result, — to show most conclusively that the Constitu- 
tions could not have been derived from the apostles, nor from 
Clement of Rome. Circumstances have now changed ; and this 
polemic interest has passed away ; for the point then contested is 
now generally decided. In the present advanced state of ecclesias- 
tical history, our task can be no other than to show at what time 
these regulations for the church were written. Hence the result of 
our investigation must be a positive one, namely, to explain satisfac- 
torily their claiming to pass for apostolical, and their bearing the 
name of Clement ; to estimate justly, in view of the relations to 
one another and to the Constitutions, all the external testimonies, 
some of which pronounce this work heretical and interpolated ; to 



270 INTRODUCTION. 

represent its origin, on account of its contents as well as of exter- 
nal considerations, as necessarily falling in this or that period ; and 
to develop its plan more fully. 

The most diverse views in regard to the Constitutions have been 
presented ; but they have been conjectures thrown out, rather than 
any theory fully carried through. Several of them need an exten- 
sive retrospection and a critical estimate ; and hence we begin with 
a history of the various views on this subject. 



ESSAY. 



CHAPTER I. 

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE VARIOUS OPINIONS RESPECTING THE 

CONSTITUTIONS. 

Charles Bovius, a Neapolitan from Brindisi, who at first was a 
Bishop at Ostunum, but afterwards became a Bishop in his native coun- 
try, translated into Latin the eight books of the Constitutions, 1 and pub- 
lished them, with an extensive Commentary, at Venice, in the year 
15 63. 2 In the same year also, Francis Turrian, a learned Spanish 
Jesuit, published the Constitutions, with Prolegomena and Scholia written 
in Greek. 3 Both labored strenuously to procure respect and influence 
for the work, and to refute the numerous opposers of it, as well as 
they could. Bovius, Turrian, Stapleton, 4 and Alanus Copus, 5 went 
so far as to assert that it is full of the apostolic spirit. Indeed, Sta- 
pleton asserted that, if the modern church should receive the Apos- 
tolical Constitutions into the canon of the Holy Scripture, there would 
be no reason why we should not hold them for canonical as much as the 
Epistle of James. 

These and similar assertions are to be explained, partly from the 

1 Aiarayal tuv dyuov uttootoTiov 6td K?i7}fievTog rov 'Pu/xacuv e7UOK,6nov re nal tcoXl- 
tov, fj Kad-oliKTj dtdaoitaMa. For accounts of various editions, see Ittig in Diss, de 
Pseudepigraphis Christi, Marise, et Apostolorum, cap. xii. p. 190; and Fabricii Bib- 
lioth. Grsec. lib. v. cap. i. p. 33. 

2 Still earlier, Charles Capell had published, at Ingolstaclt, in 1546, an abridgment 
of the Constitutions. This he had found on the island of Crete. It may be seen in 
Crabbe's Collection of Councils, which appeared at Cologne in 1551. 

3 Afterwards Turrian translated them into Latin, furnished them with defensive 
remarks, and republished them at Antwerp in 1578. 

4 Defens. Auct. Eccles. Kb. i. cap. xi. and Princip. Doctr. Controv. v. Quagst. ii. art. 3. 

5 On the opinions of these defenders of the Constitutions, see Gerhard, Conf. Cath. 
torn. i. lib. i. p. 409. The same opinion was defended also by Nicol. Serrarius, Opusc. 
Theol. Dissert, de Apostolis. 



272 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

• 
violent party spirit which impelled these men, to whom extensive erudi- 
tion cannot be denied ; and partly from the special interest which some 
of them had to exhibit, through this work, ecclesiastical arrangements 
and rites, as already existing in a very early period of the church. For 
it would be wrong to assert, that the Catholic church or her distinguished 
writers had held fast the apostolical origin of the Constitutions, or had 
considered the author or collector of them to be Clement of Rome. 
That is not at all the case. On the contrary, several very eminent and 
learned men of the Catholic church, at an early day, acknowledged 
that the Constitutions could not have descended from the apostles, nor 
from Clement. 

Bellarmin 1 says, decidedly, that he considers the Recognitions (which 
he holds to be one and the same work with the Itiner avium or Circuities 
Petri) and the Apostolical Constitutions not as works of Clement ; that 
the latter, in the Latin church, had scarcely ever had any respect and 
influence ; and that the later Greeks, at the Trullan Council [in Con- 
stantinople, A.D. 692], had rejected them, as having been corrupted by 
heretics. Still it is remarkable that Bellarmin, notwithstanding this 
judgment, often makes use of the Constitutions, in order to defend the 
errors of the Romish church. 2 

The same opinion is openly expressed also by Baronius, in many 
places of his Annals. 3 He often calls them directly an apocryphal 
writing. He mentions, further, that Athanasius and Epiphanius, and 
other fathers of the church, classed them with apocryphal productions ; 
and that, finally, the second canon of the sixth council [he means the 
Trullan, which the Greeks regarded as a continuation of the sixth] 
testifies that they have been interpolated by heretics. 

Margarin de la Bigne, 4 Gabriel Albaspinreus, 5 and Cardinal du Perron, 6 

1 De Scriptor. Eccles. i. Soec. in Clement, p. 53. De Libris Constitutionum Apostoli- 
cariiHi, quae dementi auctori tribuuntur, idem fere judicium fieri debet ex de libris 
Recognitionum. Multa in illis sunt utilia et a Grcecis veteribus magnifiunt, sed in 
ecclesia Latina nullum fere nomen habent, &c. 

2 This is shown by Robert Cocus, in Censura Scrip torum quorundam Veterum, p. 29. 

3 Tom. i. A.D. 32, § 18— A.D. 44, § 36. Putarunt aliqui (inquit Bellarminus) 
eandem sentcntiam ex ejusdem Clementis Constitutionibus, sed apociyphis roborari. — 
Tom. ii. A.D. 102, § 9. Sicut aliqua quae in eis sunt, haeretici sunt perperam inter- 
pretati; ita etiam ab iisdem multa fuisse corrupta, canon nomine sextae synodi tcstari 
vidctur. Aliqua insuper in eas ex Graecorum fontibus cfnuxisse, mild facile persuadeo. 

4 A theologian of the Sorbonne, in his Bibliotheca Patrum, torn. hi. ed. 3, in Anast. 
Nic. 9, in Script, col. 44. 

6 Bishop of Orleans, in his Observat. Eccles. c. 13, p. 37. 

6 Jacobus Davius Perronius, De Eucharistia, lib. ii. c. i. p. 174. Hoc opus a mul- 
tis gravibus auctoribus vetcris ac recentis memorise in dubium vocatur. Epiphanius 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 273 

pronounce a similar judgment. The Cardinal, in his work on the 
Eucharist, goes back to the testimony of Epiphanius, of the Trullan 
council, and of Photius ; and from the facts that Epiphanius does not 
doubt the authority of the Constitutions, that the Trullan Council rejects 
them, and that, in the opinion of Photius, they are tinctured with Arian- 
ism, he draws the conclusion that Epiphanius had before him Constitu- 
tions very different from those which are referred to by Photius and the 
council. 

Dionysius Petavius 1 also, one of the most distinguished of the learned, 
made, in his time, the remark that the Constitutions of Epiphanius and 
ours are different. Hence, he rejects them entirely, and calls them 
Pseudo-diataxes Apostolicas. Entirely of the same tenor are the judg- 
ments of many other learned men of this church ; as of Peter Halloix, 2 
of Natalis Alexander, 3 and of Christian Lupus ; 4 the last of whom desig- 
nated the fourth century as the time when the Constitutions were writ- 
ten ; and he considered them interpolated in respect to doctrine, and to 
discipline and the ritual. 

Cardinal Bona 5 believed that, if the Constitutions were *not dictated 
directly by the apostles, we must, nevertheless, admit that they are older 
than the Nicene Council, and that they contained the church discipline 
which was usual in the oriental church, under the heathen emperors, 
before the time of Constantine the Great. 

On the contrary, Tillemont 6 asserts that our Constitutions were first 
fabricated in the sixth century, probably by the falsifier of the Epistles 



libri meminit id nomen prseferentis, aitque multos suo tempore eum in dubium revo- 
care ; se rero eum nequaquam rejicere. Synodus Constantinopoli in Trullo, multis 
post Epiphanium temporibus sub Justiniano Rhinotmeto habita, opus condemnat. 
Photius vero Constantinopolitanus Patriarcba, ipsa ilia synodo recentior, vix Arian- 
ismo purgari posse ait ; quod suspicari cogit librum hunc vel non eundem esse eum eo, 
qui Epipbanii temporibus hoc nomine censebatur, vel certe ab Arianis postea coirup- 
tum adulteratumque fuisse. 

1 On the various places of Epiphanius where the Constitutions are cited ; and on 
Epiph. Exposit. Eid. p. 360; and De Doctrina Temporum, lib. ii. c. 57. 

2 A learned Jesuit, in notis ad Vitam Polycarpi. cap. vi. et ad Vitam Ignatii, cap. ii. 

3 Historia Eccles. Saec. I. Dissert, xviii. p. 195. 

4 At first a Professor at Lyons, afterwards an Augustinian monk, — in scholiis ad 
Canones Conciliorum, par. 2, p. 867 ; and in Opusculorum Posthumorum, torn. i. 
p. 683 et 749. 

5 Reram Liturg. lib. i. c. 8. Quidquid autem sit de auctorc harum Constitutionum . 
certum apud omnes et exploratum nunc est, quodsi ab apostolis immediate dictate 
non fuerunt, coneilio tamen Nicamo antiquiorcs sunt, et in his continetur disciplina 
ecclesiastica. qua Orientalis ecclesia sub ethnicis imperatoribus ants Constantinum M. 
regebatur. So, too, J. Morinus, p. ii. De Sacris Ordinat. p. 20. 

6 Memoires, torn. ii. art. vii. 

18 



274 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

of Ignatius. This opinion, certainly, had some plausibility ; since, in 
those Epistles and in the Constitutions, the same ideas are expressed 
and designedly urged, especially the idea of the elevation and regard 
due to Bishops and all the clergy. 

Among those who have conjectured that the author lived so early, at 
least, as in the third century, we would mention here also John Fronto 1 
and Peter de Marca. 2 

Du Pin, 3 who mentions the citations from the Constitutions in Epi- 
phanius and in the author of the Opus Imperfectum in Matthceum, and 
their being different from our Constitutions, thinks it probable, in view 
of this fact, that they are corrupted ; and that the place, b. vi. c. 25, 
where those are reckoned as heretics who believe that Jesus is one and 
the same with God, indicates an Arian interpolator. Moreover, he con- 
siders the Apostolical Constitutions a different work from The Instruc- 
tions of the Apostles (t&v hnooioloiv dida/al or didocx-ty mentioned by 
Eusebius and Athanasius, and thinks that they were collected in the 
third or fourth century, but that, in the course of time, they suffered 

. much alteration. 

^ But more than all others, J. B. Cotelerius ought to be mentioned here 
with honor and gratitude. For as he has done much to encourage the 
general study of the Fathers, so he has especially promoted the study of 
the Constitutions. He has not, indeed, given us any profound disserta- 
tion respecting them ; but, with the aid of two manuscript copies which 
were at Vienna, he prepared an edition more correct than any that had 
preceded it ; and he has furnished it with most valuable historical and 
critical remarks, which greatly facilitate our ascertaining the essential 
facts in this investigation. 4 For the most part, he is inclined to place 
them in the age before Epiphanius ; yet he leaves it undecided whether 
Epiphanius was acquainted with our present Constitutions, or how far 
these are the same with those which Epiphanius had before him. Still, 
he is of the opinion that our present Constitutions are greatly corrupted 
and interpolated. 5 



1 In his Praenotat. ad Calendas Rom. p. 5. 

2 De Concordia Sacerdotii et Imperii, lib. iii. c. 2. 

3 Nova Bibliotheca Auctoram Ecelesiasticonim, torn. i. p. 9, 46. Parisiis, 1692. 

4 See his Apostolical Fathers, torn. i. p. 201. Amstel. 1724. 

5 Judicium de Constitutionibus Apostolicis (torn. i. p. 195). At ista mihi ambigua 
sunt, quo primiim tempore libri Constitutionum Pseudo-apostolicarum lucem con- 
spexcrint, quando interpolati sunt, quern habuerint parentem, quern corruptorem et qui- 
bus inlocis fuerint dcpravati. Ccrtb novi quod primus scriptor post tempora apostolioa 
et ante Epiphanium vixcrit ; sed an proprior illis vel huic plane ncscio. Nempc Patrum 
second! ac tertii seculi silentium non est nota indubia, non extitisse coram rctate dia- 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 275 

In the Protestant church the Constitutions have, from the beginning, 
been entirely rejected, both as to their having an apostolical origin, and 
as to Clement's being their author. In the Reformed church, however, 
Richard Montacutius 1 has defended them ; and upon Clement, as the 
writer of them, he has bestowed high encomiums. But his opinion had 
no influence ; and, as it was quite unfounded, it passed away without 
leaving any impression. We shall hereafter examine more fully the 
view of Whiston, which went still further, while, at the same time, it 
excited more attention, and had more influence. On the contrary, it is 
from the Reformed church that there have been the most fundamental 
and ample attacks upon the Constitutions. 

Blondell 2 advanced the opinion that the Constitutions came from the 
same author as the Recognitions, and that he put them together towards 
the end of the second century, — perhaps about the year 180. But he 
has said this only incidentally, without giving any reasons which guided 
him in his judgment. 

Grabe 3 supposes that Blondell, in this conjecture, had in his eye a 
passage in the Constitutions, b. vi. c. 8. 4 To this passage the author of 
the Recognitions, in the second and third book of this work, doubtless 
has referred ; but this affords no sufficient ground to assert that the au- 
thor of the Recognitions and of the Constitutions was one and the same 
person. Cotelerius 5 also has justly objected that the two works are, in 
their character, very different from each other. Photius long ago re- 
marked, that in extensive erudition, and especially in elegance of style, 
the Recognitions much excel the Constitutions ; and that the author of the 
Constitutions was well acquainted with the Holy Scriptures and with 
the ecclesiastical usages ; but that, on the contrary, the author of the 



taxes: quandoquidem Apocrypha diu ignorantur, diutius contemnuntur : uncle in- 
eerta solent habere principia. Utrum etiam is in eodem ac Arius hsereseos luto hses- 
erit, necne, dicere non possum. 

1 In his Apparatus ad Origines Ecclesiasticas, p. 394. 

2 In his Pseudo-Isidorus et Turrianus Vapidantes, p. 28, Genev. 1628. Also in Ins 
Traite de la Primaute de l'Eglise. Genev. 1641, fol. 

3 In his Spicilegium Patrum Ssec. I. p. 283. 

4 But Simon, meeting me Peter first at "^Caesarea of Strato (where the faithful Cor- 
nelius, a Gentile, believed on the Lord Jesus by me), endeavored to pervert the word 
of God ; there being with me the holy children, Zaccheus who was once a publican 
and Barnabas, and Nicetas, and Aquila, who were brethren, and Clement the Bishop 
and citizen of Rome, who was the disciple of Paul, our fellow-apostle, and fellow- 
helper in the gospel. I thrice discoursed before them with Mm concerning the time 
prophet, and concerning the monarchy of God ; and when I had overcome him by the 
power of the Lord, and had put him to silence, I drove him away into Italy. 

5 In his Judicium de Constitutionibus Apostolici?. 



276 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Recognitions was very little acquainted with these subjects. It ought 
to be added, that in their doctrines there is a difference. Cotelerius 
shows, for example, that in the Constitutions, b. viii. c. 46, the sun, 
moon, and stars, are reckoned among lifeless objects; 1 while in the 
Recognitions, b. v. c. 16, directly the contrary respecting them is 
asserted. 2 

Respecting the author of the Constitutions, William Beveridge 3 has 
made an interesting conjecture, which, although his reasons are inade- 
quate and untenable, must still be pronounced ingenious. He thinks that 
the author was, not Clement of Rome, but Clement of Alexandria. He 
argues particularly from the last apostolical canon. 4 He concludes from 
the phrase, ly me Clement, which is found alike in all the manuscripts, 
that it is he who collected both the canons and the Constitutions, and 
that this Clement is mentioned. But this Clement could not possibly be 
Clement of Rome, who, according to the preceding words, wrote the two 
epistles ; for in the canon it stands, not two epistles of me Clement, but, 
without the pronoun, 'two epistles of Clement.' If the Clement who 
collected the Constitutions, and the Clement who wrote the two epis- 
tles, had been the same, then, doubtless, the pronoun me would have 
been connected with the one as well as with the other. The question 
who, then, was the Clement that was different from the Clement of 
Rome, he answers by suggesting the probability that it was Clement 
of Alexandria. Eusebius seems to support this conjecture. He informs 
us that Clement of Alexandria, in his book on the Passover, asserts that 
he was compelled by his friends to write down traditions which had 
been transmitted to him from ancient Presbyters. 5 Clement of Alexan- 
dria, moved by the solicitations of his friends, has therefore collected 
the traditions which were scattered here and there, and has also made 

1 For if those things which are without life observe good order, as the night, the 
day, the sun, the moon, the stars, &c. 

2 Tu ergo adoras insensibilem, cum unusquisque hahens sensum, nee ea quidem cre- 
dat adoranda, quae a Deo facta sunt et habent sensum ; id est, solem et lunam, vel Stellas, 
omniaque quoe in ccelo sunt et super ten-am. Compare also Clementin. x. 9, and 
iii. 35. 

3 In his Annotationes ad Pandectas, p. 40, and Codex Canonum Ecclesice Primitiva; 
vindicatus et illustratus. Lond. 1678. Amstel. 1697. 

4 Let the following books be esteemed venerable and holy by you, both of the clergy 
and of the laity, &c. : — Two epistles of Clement, and the Constitutions dedicated to 
you the Bishops by me Clement, in eight books ; which it is not suitable to publish 
before all, because of the mysteries contained in them. 

5 Eccles. Hist. b. vi. c. 13 : — In his treatise on the Passover, he acknowledges that, 
for the benefit of posterity, he was urged by liis friends to commit to writing those tra- 
ditions that he had heard from the ancient Presbvters. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 277 

extracts from the writings of those who were immediately connected 
with the apostolic age, as from Clement, Polycarp, and Ignatius; 
respecting which Beveridge conjectures that they are the same which 
were called Institutes (diarayal) or Constitutions [dtaT&^sig) ; but that, at 
a later period, writers, deceived by the name of Clement, have ascribed 
them to Clement of Rome. 

Much, however, can be objected to this reasoning ; and the whole con- 
jecture will be found to be untenable. The proof derived from the last 
canon, ingenious as it is, cannot be regarded as valid, since this canon 
manifestly was written at a later time than that in which Clement of 
Alexandria lived. It appears to have been written by a later hand than 
that of the first compiler. 

There is another strong objection. The Instructions, Institutes, or 
Constitutions (dida/al, diaxayal, or diaT&^etg), were known to Eusebius, 
Athanasius, and Epiphanius, only under the name of the apostles ; and 
in the testimonies of the ancients, which we have upon the Constitutions, 
the very first mention of Clement, as the author, occurs in the second 
canon of the Trullan Council [A.D. 692]. Further, even if we admit 
the conjecture of Beveridge, that Clement of Alexandria, perhaps with 
the concurrence of some council, added the Constitutions collected by 
him to the previous catalogue of the canonical books, there still remains 
a very great difficulty : — It is not easy to explain why his doing this 
has not been mentioned at all by any of the writers who flourished in 
his time ; and why he himself, in all his other writings, has passed it 
over in entire silence. The later writers mention nothing of it ; and 
hence it is clear that all the external testimonies are against the conjec- 
ture, and that the most natural inference from the last canon is, that a 
comparatively late interpolator has inserted the words by me immediately 
before Clement, without adverting to the previous mention of that name, 
in the same connection. 

Pearson 1 has endeavored to establish the opinion that the eight books 
of the Constitutions, which we now possess, were, after the age of Epi- 
phanius, collected out of the teachings (pidaaxaUai) of the apostles and 
of the apostolical fathers ; that hence our Constitutions had acquired the 
title of a catholic teaching, instruction, or doctrine (xadoXixfididaaxaXla) • 
that the Instructions of the Apostles (didax^ or didaxai x&v tinoaidlow) 
are, in great part, contained in that compilation, with the exception of 
the points which were no longer adapted to the usages and customs 
of this more modern time, but were at variance with them. Thus, 
for example, the precept requiring that the celebration of the Pass- 

1 In his Vindicise Epistolarum S. Ignatii, p. i. c. 4. 



278 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

over [Easter] be held at the same time with its celebration by the Jews, 
is changed ; and many other things are left out or added. Although 
we are of the same opinion with Pearson, that the Constitutions have 
received their present form since the time of Epiphanius, yet we cannot 
go so far with him as to admit that they were then first collected, and 
had then first acquired, for the most part, their present ingredients ; but 
only so far as to admit that the Constitutions extant in the time of 
Epiphanius suffered, at a later period, changes and additions, which, 
however, were not very great ; and that, in this form, they have come 
down to us. With his views respecting the lateness of the collection, it 
is the more inexplicable how Pearson could come to the opinion that the 
Constitutions were collected out of the 'instructions' (didaaxallai) of the 
apostolical fathers, and even of the apostles themselves. There lay also 
before him the quotations of Epiphanius, from which every one can 
infer so much, at least, that the Constitutions were then no work of a 
very inconsiderable extent ; — at least, that it was not a brief ' instruc- 
tion,' out of which, with the addition of many other * instructions,' and 
with the mingling of the peculiar additions of the interpolator, our Con- 
stitutions could first come forth. To say no more on this topic, it is 
almost incredible that Pearson could deceive himself into the belief that 
they exhibit the character of the apostolic age ; since the bare reading 
of them, it would seem, must sufficiently convince us of the contrary. 
For if, in respect to rites and doctrines, there is, in the Constitutions, 
much that agrees with the first and second centuries, and that could give 
some ground for this opinion ; yet the whole bears so much the traces of 
a later age, and is so far removed from the simplicity and the indescrib- 
able stamp of the apostolic age, that, unless we begin the investigation 
with prejudice, we cannot hesitate long to pronounce them no production 
of that period. 

Grabe 1 has expressed an opinion very similar to that of Pearson. 
Although he admits that the apostles have neither written nor dictated 
the Constitutions which are ascribed to them, yet it seems to him to be 
beyond a doubt that this book was collected out of traditions which the 
several churches received from the apostles, who preached in various 
places, and exerted themselves to introduce church discipline and rites ; 
and that the collection was made towards the end of the first century, or, 
at the latest, in the beginning of the second. To this view, he says, he 
is led especially by the decree [constitutio] which commands the cele- 
brating of the Passover at the same time with the Jews. That in this, 
regard is had to the first Bishops and believers of the church at Jerusa- 

1 In his Spicilcgium Patrum Seculi I. p. 45. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 279 

lem, is proved by Epiphanius, who expresses himself thus : — i But as 
there have been fifteen Bishops of the circumcision, so it was then 
proper, the Bishops being of the circumcision, and established in Jeru- 
salem, that the whole world imitate them, and celebrate with them ; that 
there might be one harmonious voice, one confession, one^east.' 1 

Those fifteen Bishops had succeeded one another before the siege of 
Jerusalem by Adrian. This is evident from the Ecclesiastical History 
of Eusebius, 2 who informs us that all the Bishops there had lived only a 
very short time. He adds, ' So much, however, have I learned from 
writings, that down to the invasion of the Jews, under Adrian, there 
were fifteen successions of Bishops in that church, all of whom, they say, 
were Hebrews from the first, and received the knowledge of Christ pure 
and unadulterated.' Now, since this siege occurred perhaps about the 
year of our Lord 120, Grabe concludes that the ' instructions of the apos- 
tles ' (didaxal t&v dcnocrTolwf) had been collected and committed to writing 
before this time. But this opinion must be rejected as wholly unfounded 
and untenable. In the first place, we have a right, since every thing 
else indicates it, to assume, or, at least, to suppose as highly probable, 
that the compiler of the Constitutions used by Epiphanius — well ac- 
quainted, as he naturally must have been, with all the manners, usages, 
and ecclesiastical arrangements, in respect to the external and the inter- 
nal affairs of the church — has designedly borrowed, out of the first and 
second centuries, many things which may or which may not have con- 
tinued later (for to him, with his object, they would be as valuable in 
the one case as in the other), in order sometimes to conceal his interpo- 
lation, and sometimes to commend it strongly as of apostolic origin. 

Grabe was confirmed in his opinion that the Constitutions have arisen 
out of various 'instructions' (didaoxaXicu') of the apostles and of Barna- 
bas, of Clement, Ignatius, and others, by a discovery which he made 
in the Bodleian library : — As he was examining the Codex xxvi. Bo- 
roccianus,he found several 'instructions' (didaxai) which bore the name 
of the apostles, and from which he soon convinced himself, upon com- 
paring them with our Constitutions, that they are contained in the eighth 
book of this work. Hence he afterwards maintained that the eighth book 
was collected out of ' instructions ' (didaaxaltui) of the apostles; respect- 
ing which we will hereafter treat more fully. 

In regard to Grabe' s assertion, which he founded on that decree con- 
cerning the celebration of the Passover, I think that I can show its 

1 Hser. lxx. §10. "kfia 6e nal TrevreKaideica eiriaKOTrot yeyovaaiv e/c TrepLGTOftTJc, nal 
kxpyv tote tuv eTUCKonov e/c Treptrofj.^ ovrov, ev 'lepovaakrjfi KaTaora&evTuv, rov Trdvra 
Kouftov TomoLg ovveTreo&ai, Kal fiET 1 avrtiv kmreXelv cva fiia tiq yivrjTat ovfiQuvia, 
fiia ofioloyia, fiia toprr) eiUTehovfievrj. 

2 B. iv. c. 5. 



280 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

incorrectness, from considerations independent of the reply already 
given. For from the place which Epiphanius cites from his Constitu- 
tions (Heresy lxx. § 10), it appears, incontrovertibly, that misunder- 
standing and dissension concerning the celebration of the Passover had 
already arisen. There is mention made of the two parties, the Jewish 
and the Gentile Christians. The whole decree bears upon it an im- 
press, indicating that it was made for the allaying of a vehement strife ; 
and if we could not conclude this already from the words, ' Make not 
computations, but celebrate when your brethren of the circumcision do ; 
celebrate at the same time with them,' 1 — the subsequent remark of 
Epiphanius sets it beyond all doubt : — ' But, under the apostles, the 
injunction is introduced for the sake of unity, as they testify, saying, 
Though they [the Jewish Christians] may be deceived, let it give you 
no solicitude. 5 2 

This decision, from whomsoever it may have come, a matter which 
we set aside at present, was made ./or the sake of concord ; which neces- 
sarily supposes that strife on the subject was arising or had already 
arisen. But now it is evident from ecclesiastical history, that between 
the churches of Rome, Cesarea, Jerusalem, Tyre, and Alexandria, on 
the one hand, with the Bishop Victor at their head, and the churches of 
Asia Minor on the other hand, with Polycrates, of Ephesus, at their 
head, the strife concerning the Passover first arose about the year 190. 
We cannot with propriety speak of there being any controversy on this 
subject previous to the episcopate of Victor, who, entirely in the spirit 
of that hierarchical principle, the development of which we can from that 
time onwards clearly trace in the history of the church, wrote to the 
Asiatic Bishops who differed from him in the celebration of the Pass- 
over, that haughty and dictatorial letter in which he enjoined on them a 
conformity to his own custom in respect to the time of celebrating this 
feast, and finally excommunicated all who disregarded his mandate. The 
contention must have been the more vehement, in proportion as a dispo- 
sition was manifested to oppose the pretensions of the Roman Bishop ; 
and from the letter of Irenaeus, who, in the name of the churches at 
Lyons and Vienna, earnestly and sternly corrected Victor for his arro- 
gant attack on the rights of his fellow-bishops as well as of all believers, 
we perceive that this extraordinary procedure of Victor led to a general 
strife, and met with strong opposition. 



1 Mt? ijJTjQi&Te, uXku TTOteire, brav oi adeltyol vfitiv ol in irepiTOfir/g- per' avrQv afia 
TTOieiTe. 

2 Hapa role uttootoTlolc 61 to firjTbv 6t' bfiovoiav kfi^eperai, ug eTTifiaprvpovaL, hiyovreg, 
on kuv te nXavTj&uci, /irjde vjjZv jue/lerw. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 281 

If, in support of Grabe's assertion, it be objected that already before 
Victor, contentions concerning the celebration of the Passover had 
arisen, the objection can be fairly repelled. It ought not, indeed, to be 
denied, that, already long before his time, differences on this subject 
had arisen ; but these differences, like many others, had continued quiet 
in the several churches, without having been particularly expressed. 
At all events, we may assume as fully proved, that this diversity, in the 
celebration of the Passover, between the Romish church and those of 
Asia Minor, was not brought into consideration, on either side, before 
Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna, visited the Bishop Anicetus at Pome, 
in the year 162. But the allaying of controversies concerning the Pass- 
over was not at all the object of Polycarp's journey, for no general con- 
troversy concerning it had yet arisen ; but as in many external things 
there prevailed a diversity between these churches, so this must necessa- 
rily fall under their view, and become the subject of remark, in the 
course of Polycarp's visit. But these consultations were so far from 
being contentious, and there was so little need of a decree for the preser- 
vation of concord, that Anicetus, in token of concord, permitted Poly- 
carp to administer the Lord's supper at Pome. From this, therefore, 
we see sufficiently that no contentions then prevailed ; that, further, this 
decree could not be applied to these supposed contentions ; and that, 
even were we obliged to admit both of these unfounded suppositions, still 
the opinion of Grabe is untenable ; since he places the origin of this 
decree, and according to his view, consequently, the origin of them all, 
in a time (about the year 122) in which this diversity, so far as history 
gives us any authentic information, was not at all mentioned. But since, 
on the contrary, it is at the present day universally acknowledged as the 
correct result of many investigations, that, properly speaking, the con- 
tentions respecting the Passover first proceeded from the Bishop Victor, 
and raged more vehemently from this time onward, until they were 
settled in the council at Nice, we may well assume it as proved, that 
Grabe's opinion, according to which the decree quoted by Epiphanius 
must have been given before the year 122, is entirely erroneous. Such 
a decree implies contentions respecting the celebration of the Passover ; 
but the contentions first arose towards the end of the second century. 
Accordingly there is then, indeed, presented even in the decree itself the 
need of a law deciding contentions of this kind. 

Of all who among the Protestants have attempted the defence of the 
Constitutions, no one has gone further than Whiston, 1 who does not hesi- 



1 In his ' Essay on the Apostolical Constitutions, wherein is proved that they are 
the most sacred of the canonical books of the New Testament.' Lond. 1711. 



282 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

tate to assert that these ecclesiastical laws, disciplinary precepts, and 
decisions respecting doctrines, ' were delivered personally by our Saviour 
to the eleven apostles, after his resurrection and first ascension, during 
the forty days which he spent with them.' He even goes so far as to 
determine the place where this was done : — 'in the famous place of 
their constant Christian assemblies, in that part of Jerusalem which 
was built on Mount Zion, whence the Christian law was to proceed, 
according to the ancient prophecies.' 1 And he places the Constitutions, 
in respect to credibility, on a level with the books of the New Testa- 
ment. We hardly know how to account for his opinion, since he was 
one of the most learned men of his time in England ; and only a slight 
study of the Constitutions must, it would seem, have convinced him of the 
contrary. Hence, Grabe, Turner, 2 and others, have sought to explain 
this from the relations in which he stood. The Arian subordination- 
theory, which had found many adherents in England, was also defended 
by Whiston. He therefore fell under the suspicion of Arianism, to 
which he had at least shown himself strongly inclined, and lost, conse- 
quently, his professorship at Cambridge. 3 Now those writers have very 
naturally concluded that he endeavored to prove the genuineness of the 
Constitutions, in order to sustain his Arianism, since they contain much 
that is Arian. This conjecture has also met with approbation among 
the learned men of Germany. 4 

Among the opposers of Whiston, it is proper to mention, as one of the 
most considerable, John Le Clerc. 5 But it is to be regretted that in his 
whole discussion he has occupied himself, almost exclusively, with the 
refutation of Whiston, and has only in general terms expressed his own 
opinion ; which is, that the author of the Constitutions was an Arian, per- 
haps the Bishop Leontius, who lived in the reign of the emperor Con- 
stantius, and that he wrote near the end of the fourth century. 6 



1 Whiston's Essay, p. 14. 

2 A Discourse of the pretended Apostolical Constitutions. Lond. 1715. 

3 Upon this, he repaired to London, and soon published a work in his defence, en- 
titled, An Historical Preface to Primitive Christianity Revived, with an Appendix- 
Not long after, he published Iris larger work which he had promised, under the title : 
Primitive Christianity Revived (in five volumes; Lond. 1711 -12), in the third vol- 
ume of which is contained the above-mentioned extensive treatise on the age and 
authority of the Constitutions. 

4 Acta Eruditorum Suppl. torn. v. p. 214; ann. 1711, p. 558; ann. 1712, p. 96; 
ann. 1714, p. 28. 

6 Dissert, de Constitutionihus Apostolicis, in Coteler. Patr. Apostol. torn. ii. p. 493. 

6 We introduce here some of Whiston's opposers; for the subject excited a lively 
interest at the time. Peter Allix, at first a reformed preacher at Charcnton, in France, 
hut afterwards a canon at Windsor, published a work under the title, Remarks on some 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 283 

Jo. Phil. Baratier, however, pleads for the~early age of the Constitu- 
tions. He not only places their origin in the beginning of the second 
century, but also asserts their integrity, and rejects the supposition of 
interpolations. 1 Bingham, on the contrary, holds that our Constitutions 
are a very good collection of liturgies and matters pertaining to the eccle- 
siastical ritual, from the third century and the fourth, and that this collec- 
tion is less corrupted than any other liturgy which has come down to us. 
He endeavors to explain this smaller corruption of our Constitutions 
from the circumstance that they never stood in so high esteem as to be 
used in any church as the customary liturgy ; that therefore no special 
interest would have prompted to their corruption. We shall, in our 
subsequent investigation, often have occasion to recur to Bingham, who 
has very carefully made use of our Constitutions. 

Only a few writers have attempted to determine the author or col- 
lector of the Constitutions, although many have toiled to determine the 
age to which they should be ascribed. This, doubtless, has arisen from 
their feeling that we should there be lost in an endless multitude of con- 
jectures, each of which, if possible, would become still more unfounded 
and untenable than the others. Among those who, nevertheless, have 
attempted it, belongs Thomas Bruno, 2 who, as well as Le Clerc, thinks it 
probable that Leontius, an Arian Bishop at Tripoli in Lydia, who lived 
under the Emperor Constantius, was the author or collector of the Con- 
stitutions. For his opinion he adduces the following reasons. Leontius 
was the only one among the fathers of this century who had acquired 
such respect and influence that he was denominated the rule or law of 
the church? Besides, his efforts to increase the respect shown to the 



places of Mr. Whiston's book; to which Whiston soon sent forth a Reply. As his prin- 
cipal opposers, we have further to name, Richard Smalbroke, in his work entitled 
The pretended Authority of the Clementine Constitutions confuted by their inconsis- 
tency with the Inspired "Writings ; Lond. 1714 ; — John Edwards, in some Brief Ob- 
servations and Reflexions on Mr. "Whiston's Primitive Christianity Revived, &c. p. 15 ; — 
and Matthew Henry, in the Exposition of the Historical Books of the New Testa- 
ment. William Loyd, too. Bishop of Worcester, in various letters which he ad- 
dressed to Whiston on this subject, has prominently opposed his view. A very 
extensive catalogue of all the writings which appeared against Whiston are found in 
Christ. Matt. Pfaff's Introductio in Histor. Theolog. Litter.; lib. hi. de Theologia 
Polemica, p. 274. 

1 Baraterii Dissert, de Constit. Apost. in his work De Successione Roman. Episcop. 
Prim. p. 229 and p. 260. 

2 Thomoc Brunonis, canonici Windesoriensis, Judicium de Auctore Canonum et Con- 
stitutionum. Compare Cotelerii Patr. Apost. torn. ii. p. 177. 

3 Kavdv £Kn?i7)oiac, as Suidas testifies under the word Aeovnoe : — ' Kavova de avrdv 

tuakoVV T7)C £KK?i7]Gl,ae. > 



284 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Bishops, and to extend the ecclesiastical discipline, speak for him as the 
author of the Constitutions. Bruno also shows, that throughout the 
Constitutions the preeminence of the Bishops is brought to view, and 
that the design is prosecuted of elevating the power and authority of the 
Bishops above all worldly power. Leontius not only had a similar 
plan, but he also carried it through. For when in the presence of 
Eusebia, the wife of the Emperor Constantius, there was held a coun- 
cil, and the other Bishops upon their entrance saluted the Empress with 
suitable homage, Leontius, as he heard of it, remained at home ; and, 
though he had been particularly invited by the Empress, he would not 
come to the assembly, except on the stipulated condition that, when he 
entered, the Empress should descend from the throne, advance towards 
him, and bow down her head in order to receive his blessing ; and that, 
after he had seated himself, she should not sit down, until he should give 
her permission. 1 .... 

But that Leontius was the author of the Constitutions is only a con- 
jecture. 

Spanheim, after presenting a brief survey of the opinions which 
have been entertained respecting the Constitutions, expresses himself to 
this effect : — that if we compare them with the writings of Tertullian, 
Origen, Cyprian, the history of Eusebius, the doctrine, the customs, and 
the discipline of this age, we must admit that, if not a great part, still a 
part, of these Constitutions came into use towards the end of the third 
century ; but that the whole work seems to have been brought together 
towards the end of the fifth century. In favor of this judgment, he men- 
tions the manner in which they express themselves concerning the Son 
of God and the Holy Spirit : further, that they require the rebaptizing 
of heretics ; that they fix the celebration of the Passover against the 
Quatuordecimians ; that they, against the Novatians, allow the reception 
of penitents ; that they require the Sabbath to be celebrated as a festival ; 
that they prohibit fasting on the Sabbath ; and that they augment the 
episcopal authority. But he leaves it undetermined whether the 
dicn&Zeig, dida/at, and di8ayj[ t&v anoai6lo)v } mentioned in Eusebius 
and Athanasius, are one and the same work with our Constitutions. 2 

James Basnage has expressed no peculiar opinion respecting the Con- 



1 Lc Clcvc — in his edition of Coteler. Patr. Apostol. torn. ii. p. 493 — quotes the 
whole Fragment of Philostorgius, Hist. Ecclesiastical, lib. vii. c. 6, which is found in 
Suidas, and concludes, Hinc satis liquet Lcontium pluris fecisse auctoritatem episco- 
palem, quam imperatoriam ; nee alitor esse rationatum quam auctorcm Constitutio- 
nura, quisquc illc fucrit. [Compare Giescler, vol. i. p. 247.] 

2 Fredcrici Spanhemii Opera, quatenus complectuntur Geograpliiam, Chronologiam, 
et Historiam sacram atque ccclcsiasticam. Lugd. Batav. 1701, fol. p. 5S0 et p. 7S4. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 285 

stitutions, although he mentions them, and examines some testimonies 
which we have respecting them. 1 He thinks them interpolated, as this 
appears from the citations of Epiphanius. But it has been incorrectly 
supposed that there have been many collections of traditions under the 
name of Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp. Basnage further mentions 
that Lambeciers, 2 who found the whole work in the imperial library, has 
published four or five such traditions, in which Hippolytus makes the 
twelve apostles say, that they assembled for the purpose of giving rules 
and prescriptions. But he thinks, as it is difficult to judge about this, 
the reader must wait until Mill, who found the same work in an Oxford 
Manuscript, has published it. Further on, we shall again advert to this 
matter. Basnage seems in general to be of the opinion that our Con- 
stitutions are a collection of ecclesiastical traditions, and is not disinclined 
to think them a collection of Hippolytus, who, at least among the 
fathers of the first three centuries, is the only one to whom a collection 
of traditions could, with any confidence, be attributed. But, in his 
view, it is more than probable that the eighth book of the Constitutions 
is a collection of Hippolytus. 

Samuel Basnage 3 also entertained no peculiar view respecting the 
Constitutions ; yet his opinion ought here to be introduced, since he, at 
least, endeavored to determine their age with more than usual accuracy. 
From the mention of Cerinthus, Basilides, and other more recent her- 
etics ; from the custom which, in the Constitutions (b. ii. c. 25), is men- 
tioned, of giving tithes and first-fruits to the Bishops ; from the bringing 
in of the festival of Christmas and Epiphany, and of Quadragesima 
(b. v. c. 12) ; from the celebration of the feast of the Passover [Easter] 
at the same time with the Jews (b. v. c. 16) ; and from many other 
regulations and usages, he first drew the conclusion that the Constitutions 
must have arisen long after the time of Clement. Then Basnage men- 
tions the difference between our Constitutions and those of Epiphanius, 
in the prescription respecting the celebration of Easter, yet admits that 
they agree in other places ; but this he does without having compared 
them throughout. Against the opinion of Cave and Beveridge, he 
asserts his full conviction that the author of the Constitutions wrote after 
Epiphanius. The reason which he assigns, namely, that no author 
before Epiphanius has ever mentioned them, is consistent with his rejec- 
tion of the testimony of Athanasius. He also adduces, as a motive for 

1 Jaques Basnage, Histoire de l'Eglise. Eotterd. 1699. fol. vol. i. liv. ix. chap. 5, 
p. 475. 

2 Bibl. Vindob. torn. viii. p. 429. 

3 Samuelis Basnagii Annales Politico-ecclesiastici. Eotterd. 1706. Tom. i. p. 
821,$ »■ 



286 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

his rejecting it, the consideration that the 8t8ax% mentioned by Athana- 
sius, is designed for the instruction of the catechumens. Here I remark 
only, since it is treated more extensively in another place, that Basnage 
seems to have entirely overlooked the testimony of Eusebius. Still it 
ought to be noted, that Basnage, like many before and after him, is of 
the opinion that the Constitutions of Epiphanius and ours differ essen- 
tially in respect to their extent. But, as far as I know, this has never 
yet been shown by any man ; and the many and large citations in 
Epiphanius appear, on the contrary, to oppose this opinion ; and it might 
hence be difficult to prove that the Constitutions known to Epiphanius 
were of a very moderate extent. Finally, Basnage gives the age of the 
Constitutions, from a ground certainly very insulated, — namely, that 
they were collected at a time when the usage of the Latins, in the festival 
of Christmas, had been introduced into the East, and Christmas upon the 
25th of December was established. Basnage further concludes, from 
book viii. c. 10, that the author of the Constitutions belonged to the 
church at Jerusalem, since he placed the Bishop of Jerusalem before the 
Roman Bishop. But now it is proved that the celebration of Christmas 
was not observed by the Christians at Jerusalem before towards the end 
of the fifth century. The inconclusiveness of this reasoning, which rests 
upon a circumstance that we shall hereafter examine, is manifest, irre- 
spectively of the consideration that we must not reason from this eighth 
book to the whole work of the Constitutions. 

Ittig has treated very largely on the Constitutions. At first, he gives 
a short historical survey, in which he exhibits the various absurd judg- 
ments passed by hyper-Romanists, respecting them. Then he shows 
with how great impropriety testimonies for them have been brought for- 
ward from Dionysius the Areopagite, Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenreus, and 
others. 1 Still, he does not refer the testimony of Eusebius and Athana- 
sius to our Constitutions ; and he asserts, respecting the testimony of Epi- 
phanius, that, on the whole, it goes to show that our Constitutions were 
different from those of this father ; and hence that a later interpolation 
is to be assumed. Finally, he advances the opinion that the Apostolical 
Constitutions, for the most part, arose and became known in the fourth 
century ; but, at a later period, perhaps about the sixth century, were 
corrupted and interpolated by an Arian. 2 



1 De Constitutionibus Pscudapostolicis, in his Dissert, de Pseudepigraphis Christi, 
Maris, ct Apostolor. cap. xii. § 14, p. 199. 

2 Dissert, de Psendepigraphis, &c. c. xii. § 54 et 55, p. 219; and in his Historic 
Ecclesiasticx Prinii Steculi Selecta Capita, c. i. § 22, p. 53. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 287 

Usher also has sought to defend the same opinion. 1 Among all those 
who would represent the Constitutions as consisting of various kinds of 
'instructions' (didaxai and didaaxaXlai,') he has defended this hypothesis 
the most ingeniously. The dida/^ mentioned by Eusebius and Athana- 
sius, he refers not to the Constitutions, as they at present form a whole, 
connected work, but only to one of those dida%al, out of which, at a later 
period, the Constitutions were composed. In support of this, his assump- 
tion, he has very skilfully employed the testimony of Anastasius. But 
further on, where we claim for our Constitutions the testimonies of 
Eusebius and Athanasius, we will consider the objections of Usher, and 
endeavor to explain the testimony of Anastasius in favor of our opinion. 

Among the theologians of this time [the seventeenth century], Daille 
should be mentioned with distinguished honor. He devoted to our Con- 
stitutions a very extended examination. 2 The tendency cf his work is 
chiefly polemical. He strenuously opposes the opinion of Bovius and 
Turrian ; and hence he discusses the question respecting the origin of 
the Constitutions, negatively throughout; and scarcely attempts the 
positive answering of this question. It is to be regretted that he deemed 
it of no importance for us to ascertain when the Constitutions were 
written, but that it is sufficient to show that they are a forged work, 
which was wrongfully ascribed, whether to an apostle or to Clement. 3 
His polemical interest led him to this view, and caused him to overlook 
the importance of the Constitutions, as casting light on ecclesiastical 
history and antiquities. Otherwise, he would have contributed greatly 
to the solution of our question, since his distinguished erudition and 
extensive reading peculiarly fitted him for such a service. Instead of 
this, he proves, with a great expense of knowledge, by a comparison 



1 Prolegomena ad Epistolas Ignatii, c. vi. et vii. in Coteler. Patr. Apostolic. Op. vol. 
ii. p. 210. Compare And. Kivetus, in Critico Sacro, c. ii. p. 107. Hugo Grotius, De 
Jure Belli et Pacis, lib. i. c. ii. not. ad § ix. assigns the Constitutions to the third cen- 
tury. Cave says very little respecting them, and assumes that they were made up of 
various diaTa^etg of apostolical men, and, after the time of Epiphanius, were interpo- 
lated by heretics. See his Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Historia Literaria, vol. i. p. 
29. Comp. Caspar Ziegler, De Origine et Incremento Juris Canonici, § 15. Herm. 
Conringius (Animadver. de Purgator. n. xxxii.) placed the Constitutions in the fifth 
century. 

2 Johannis Dallrei de Pseudepigraphis Apostolicis, sen Libris Octo Constitutionum 
Apostolicarum Apocryphis, Lihri III. 

3 C. 17, p. 392. Quod si quasras, a quibus viris quove nominatim tempore scriptus, 
consarcinatusque ea, qua nunc est, forma fuerit Constitutionum liber, primo respon- 
deo, nihil esse quod ea de re, vehementius laboremus. Satis est, quod librum fictitium 
atque supposititium, falsoque sive apostolis, sive Clementi adscriptum, adhcec pessimal 
inter apocryphos nota?, mendaciorum atque errorum plenum esse deprehendimus. 



•♦ 



288 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

with the Holy Scriptures and the writings of the apostolical fathers, that 
the Constitutions could belong neither to the apostles nor to Clement ; a 
judgment for which, in his time, there was scarcely any proof needed. 
Much that is self-evident he asserts very profusely and emphatically, 
just to expose the absurd opinions of his antagonists. Hence the ben- 
efits which may be derived from his extensive treatise are compari- 
tively small. But his investigation respecting the external evidences 
of the Constitutions preeminently merits consideration ; for it is 
conducted with critical acuteness, although, in the detail and in his 
result, we cannot agree with him, since he rejects almost all the 
evidences for the Constitutions. We limit ourselves here to a brief 
statement of his views ; for in the sequel his opinion is critically exam- 
ined. What he has here and there, although indirectly, pointed out 
respecting the interpolations of the Constitutions, is also important. 

The testimonies of Eusebius and Athanasius he denies to our Con- 
stitutions, and asserts that the Sidccx^ and dtda%al were two writings 
altogether different from our Constitutions. Even the testimony of 
Epiphanius for our Constitutions, he does not admit to be valid ; and 
on account of the difference between our Constitutions and the didra^ig 
of Epiphanius, which appears from the citations of the latter, he believes 
it may be asserted that the two works are entirely different from each 
other. But the agreement between some citations of Epiphanius and 
our Constitutions, he seeks to explain by supposing that the author of 
the Constitutions has designedly taken much from those diaz&Zeig of 
Epiphanius into his work. He thinks, too, that the same person bor- 
rowed much from the works mentioned by Eusebius and Athanasius, 
which had the same contents. But here it is difficult to conceive why 
he who prepared the Constitutions did not take all out of the didia^g 
of Epiphanius into his work ; for then the difference of the two works, 
and the fraud used in the case, would the more easily have been con- 
cealed. He scarcely replies at all, or, at least, very unsatisfactorily, 1 to 
the objection, that if we assume that the works cited by Eusebius, 
Athanasius, and Epiphanius, are not our Constitutions, it would be very 
difficult to explain the fact that no one of those works has come down to 
us ; nay, not a single trace of them is extant. Thus he casts away these 
external testimonies, from which he might have gained for himself a 



1 C 17, p. 410. Quod vcro turn didaxv hree, turn ilia Epiphasiana duna^ig interd- 
derint, hanc ipsam causam fuissc arbitror ; quod scilicet cum recentior hie noster (kara- 
vevg ex iis plurima, ac fere omnia in opus suum transcripsisset, supcrvacaneum esse 
visum est seorsim cdita rctincrc ; qua; ille uno codemque opcre plenius ac fusius com- 
plecti sategerat. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 289 

suitable holding-point for the investigation respecting the Constitutions, 
and is of the opinion that no cogent reasons, whether external or internal, 
authorize the assumption that the Constitutions had come into existence 
before the council of Nice. His positive opinion respecting the Consti- 
tutions, he has brought forward only as a conjecture, without entering 
further into its proof. He has added it to the conclusion of his investi- 
gation, as being to him the most probable, — namely, that the Constitu- 
tions might have been written before the end of the fifth century ; since 
they contain the ecclesiastical discipline and customs of the third and the 
fourth century, while, on the other hand, they contain nothing which 
must have been introduced after the fifth. 1 

To Daille, however, belongs the merit of having proved, the most 
decisively, that the Constitutions did not originate with the apostles nor 
with Clement. 2 

The Magdeburg centuriators, who first instituted an extended exami- 
nation respecting the canons of the apostles, which, for the most part, is 
directed polemically against the Catholic church, have, on the contrary, 
left our Constitutions almost entirely unnoticed. It is easy to explain 
this, from the fact that, while the canons had become canon law, and 
thus very many of their prescriptions had also become ecclesiastical 
practice, the centuriators took these into consideration rather than the far 
more extensive work of the Constitutions, which, although it is of much 
greater importance for ecclesiastical history and antiquities, yet has never 
had a direct practical influence on the church. Still they mention the 
testimony of Epiphanius respecting the Constitutions. 3 

Several Lutheran theologians, besides, have rejected the Constitutions, 
as coming neither from the apostles nor from Clement ; and have pre- 
sented a brief survey of the various opinions of earlier theologians, with- 



1 P. 393. Si tamen, ut in re obscura, conjecturas et argumenta admittere libet, illud 
imprimis pro certo constitui posse mihi videtur, fuisse hoc opus ante finem quinti sec- 
uli scriptum atque editiim. Primo enim cum multa habcnt. tertio quartoque seculo 
in ecclesice mores ac disciplinam invecta, nihil eorum, quantum memini, exhibet, qua? 
post quintum seculum de novo inducta sunt ; nullam imaginum uspiam mentionem 
fecit, nullam reli quorum, quse priori bus temporibus inusitata, istis frequentari coepere. 

2 The following authors also may be compared, though it is unnecessary to make 
a long statement respecting them ; for they have, in the main, followed DaiUe 
namely, Abraham Schultetus, in Medulla Patrum, pt. i. lib. 2, c. 5 ; Ckamier, Panstratia 
Cathol. torn. i. lib. 5, c. 13; Chemnitius, in Examine Concil. Trident, pt. iv. p. 778 ; 
Varenius, in Kationario Scriptorum Sccul. I. p. 97 ; Ger. Van Mastricht, Historia Juris 
Ecclcsiastici, § 106, p. 82; and Casimir Oudinus, Comment, de Scrip. Ecclesiast. torn, i . 
p. 28. 

3 Centur. v. cap. v. p. 172. 

19 



290 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

out giving their own judgment ; their object generally not requiring it. 
This remark is applicable to Buddeus, 1 Walch, 2 and Fabricius. 3 

Mosheim, in several places of his works on ecclesiastical history, 
judges very unfavorably respecting the Constitutions. He represents 
them, however, as an ancient work, but as belonging to an uncertain 
time, and prepared by a man who was austere, and unfriendly to intellect- 
ual culture, and who did not hesitate to attribute his views respecting the 
discipline and government of the church to the apostles and to Clement, 
in order to procure for them the more favorable reception. Their origin 
and age he leaves undetermined ; but admits that they are a very impor- 
tant document for the knowledge of ecclesiastical antiquity. 4 

In more modern times, there has not been, respecting the Consti- 
tutions, a comprehensive examination, bestowing suitable attention on 
all the external and internal reasons and testimonies, and furnishing the 
means of arriving at a well-founded result. For although there have 
been produced several large works on ecclesiastical history, yet these 
have had little or no influence on establishing a judgment respecting the 
Constitutions. 

From the following brief survey of the decisions which the ecclesiasti- 
cal historians, and other theological writers of modern times, have passed 
respecting them, we shall see that most of them are only intimations 
and generally expressed conjectures, founded either on the general 
impression made by the reading of the Constitutions, or on single exter- 
nal circumstances, or on some isolated internal reason. For as there 
was no preliminary work entering into detail on this subject, it was 
natural that large ecclesiastical histories (since they, comprehensive as 
they are, cannot prosecute such an investigation on all sides) could 
only express themselves in general terms. There were not yet fur- 
nished them, by a distinct investigation, sufficient criteria for their 
decision. But, certainly, Ave may well wonder how Christian archaeol- 
ogy, that branch of theological study which in modern times earliest 



p. 662. 

2 Jo. G. Walchii Historia Ecclesiastica Novi Testamenti, sec. i. cap. 3, § 3, p. 331. 

3 Jo. Albert. Fabricii Biblioth. Gra?c. lib. v. cap. i. p. 33. 

4 J. L. Moshcmii De Rebus Christianorum ante Constantinum Magnum Commen- 
tavii, Sa?c. I. p. 158. Constitutionum Apostolicarum libri viii., opus antiquum, 
veram inecrtoa setatis, hominis praetor modum seven ct omnem tarn animi quam 
ingenii culturam contemnentis ; qui quam ipse mente informavcrat et apostolorum 
sentcntiis convenicntem judicabat, ecclcsiaj gubernandse et disciplinse formam, quo 
plures fautorcs et amicos reperiret, apostolis subjicere, et ex ore illorum a discipulo 
coram, Clemen te, execptam esse, fingere non dubitabat. Sec also his Institutes of 
Ecclesiastical History, b. i. pt. ii. c. ii. § 19. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 291 

acquired new life and vigor, has hitherto been without an investiga- 
tion respecting the Constitutions ; since these are, for the first four 
centuries of the Christian church, one of the most important and copious 
sources. Hence, — because, from this science, even yet no sufficient 
discussion respecting the origin and contents of the Constitutions has 
come forth, — it has also occurred, that we cannot fail to perceive much 
uncertainty and unsatisfactoriness in the use of the Constitutions, on all 
subjects connected with Christian antiquities. Still we shall often have 
occasion to point to the many instances where, on archaaological ques- 
tions and investigations, our Constitutions were either the only or the 
principal source, and therefore could not but be referred to, and even 
were amply taken into consideration. But we shall always find that in 
such an introduction of the Constitutions, where it is necessary still to 
say something about their age, in order to be able to use them for the 
object in view, the opinion long since placed beyond all doubt, that they 
proceeded neither from the apostles nor from Clement of Rome, is 
always repeated. Then, without any specific statement of the reasons, 
it is usually further asserted that they were composed of various mate- 
rials, which must be referred to various ages. This assumption has 
become the more customary, the more convenient and agreeable it has 
appeared to use the Constitutions, piecemeal, at pleasure, without having 
the whole in view, and to assign a time to any particular part, in a great 
measure arbitrarily. 

Schrockh, after giving in brief the contents of the Apostolical Consti- 
tutions, draws the conclusion that these contents prove the Constitutions 
to have been forged, and remarks that it is less important to know who 
was their author, which could be answered only by conjectures, than at 
what time, and why, he would have deceived the world ; in which opinion 
also we entirely agree with him. Epiphanius, on Heresy lxx. 10, is 
the first Christian writer who introduces them under the name of Apos- 
tolical Regulations of the Church ; and from the fact that he adduces a 
passage which, in these Regulations, as we now read them, says exactly 
the contrary of what it says as quoted by him, it appears to follow that 
Epiphanius had before him another work, with a similar superscription ; 
as in Eusebius and Athanasius we meet with traces indicating that they 
had similar writings under the name of the apostles. We must say, 
then, without being able to prove it, that the church regulations which 
Epiphanius used, were afterwards corrupted. As to Schrockh's infer- 
ence, that Epiphanius had before him another work, with a similar 
superscription, this may well be called somewhat adventurous and rash. 
For although the passage of those Constitutions, or Church Regula- 
tions, cited in the passage of Epiphanius, which Schrockh has ad- 



292 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

duced, is not found in our Constitutions, as the comparison which we 
shall hereafter institute between the Constitutions of Epiphanius and 
ours will fully show ; yet he is not authorized to infer, from this differ- 
ence, immediately, a different work ; for a more exact comparison must 
have shown him that the Constitutions of Epiphanius are, in many places, 
identical with ours ; which identity we shall also point out in our com- 
parison. This difference, while there is identity in other places, must, 
if he had let the matter remain undetermined until the proof was 
adduced, have inclined him rather to the assumption that the Constitu- 
tions, at a later period, had suffered some corruptions. But it were to be 
wished that Schrockh had expressed his opinion respecting the testimony 
of Eusebius and of Athanasius, more definitely ; for, from his statement, 
it does not appear whether he does or does not hold the dtdax^i thv 
knouxblbiv and the didw/al tcov hnoaxokwv in Eusebius and Athanasius 
to be identical with the Constitutions of Epiphanius, as well as with 
ours ; nor whether the remark that they had known similar writings, is 
or is not to be referred to the Constitutions which Epiphanius* knew, or 
to those which we have. 

In general terms, Schrockh expresses his judgment that this work was 
composed under the government of heathen emperors, towards the end 
of the third or in the beginning of the fourth century. This makes prob- 
able the condition of the Christian congregations generally, which are 
there described, and the duties enjoined on the Christians towards their 
brethren who are condemned, by the heathen, to death and to bodily 
punishments. The church offices, too, of the third century, and various 
matters characteristic of that period, he suggests, occur in the work ; 
and, from all the circumstances, it is credible that the Constitutions were 
composed by some teacher, perhaps a Bishop, in the East ; not merely in 
order to furnish the churches with regulations, but chiefly in order to 
elevate the episcopal dignity over all ; in which work also something 
could be written by him (as if by Clement), to procure the more respect 
through the name of the apostles. 1 

Cotta, in his Ecclesiastical History, has treated the subject of the 
Constitutions with great diligence. 2 After giving an excellent survey of 



1 J. M. Schrockh, Christlichc Kirchengeschichtc, Th. ii. S. 127-132. 

2 Joh. Fried. Cotta's Versich ciner ausfiihrlichen Kirchen-Historie des neuen 
Testaments, Th. ii. § 429-432. There is also an Inaugural Dissertation by Cotta, De 
Constitutionibus Apostolicis vulgo dictis, Tubing. 1746; but this I have never seen, 
notwithstanding my efforts to procure it. The substance of this Dissertation, how- 
ever, Cotta seems to have wrought into his history. Spittler, in his History of the 
Canon Law, p. 65. has mentioned it only by the way. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 293 

the contents of all the eight books of the Constitutions, he has adduced 
several various opinions of earlier learned men. Yet this collection is 
not well connected, and is given rather by the way. The attention, too, 
which he bestows on the external testimonies respecting the Constitu- 
tions, is defective and fragmentary ; and the internal evidences are not 
discussed. After he has adduced some decisions of others, respecting 
the time when the Constitutions were written, or their collection was 
undertaken, he remarks : We must candidly acknowledge that the age 
of the Constitutions cannot be exactly determined. So much, however, 
seems to be correct, — that this work is very ancient, and was prepared, 
if not in the third, yet, at least, soon after the beginning of the fourth 
century, and, of course, a considerable time before Epiphanius. Besides, 
we find in the collection, regulations by which the Eastern church was 
governed, while under the power of heathen emperors, and consequently 
before the times of Constantine. According to all probability, they were 
collected by some teacher, or, most likely, by a Bishop in the East. Cotta, 
who also adduces from the Constitutions the citations of Epiphanius, 
judges, very rightly, that the work extant at the present day, under the 
title of Apostolical Constitutions, was here and there corrupted, even in 
the more ancient times; which is quite evident from those places 
which have been adduced, some by Epiphanius, and some by the author 
of an incomplete work on Matthew ; for some of these places are found, 
either not at all, or only in part, or different in our present Constitutions. 
He expresses the opinion, that in the Constitutions there are various 
places which very much favored Arianism, and, to use his own expres- 
sion, were patched in by an Arian teacher. 

Starck also has endeavored to estimate the Constitutions critically. 
He remarks that Eusebius mentions a dtda/r^ t(bv dcjioardlcov, which 
has frequently been held to be one and the same work with the Apostol- 
ical Constitutions; for this view was already in more ancient times 
expressed by Zonaras and Matthew Blastares, as it has been also by 
Baronius, Turrian, and Cotelerius. Nothing, however, he thinks, is 
more certain than that the two works are very different from each other. 
As a reason for his opinion, he states that the Constitutions contained 
much that was of a secret character, and were designed only for those 
who were occupied with the government and administration of ecclesias- 
tical affairs ; while, on the contrary, the didax^ tgu> dcnocriolcov was only 
for the instruction of catechumens. Further on, when we examine the 
external evidences, we shall attend amply to this objection. Here we 
would only say beforehand, that the objection of Starck against regarding 
the dida%ri t&v brtooTolbw as an extract made for catechumens, is not well 
founded. He asserts that, in favor of this view, there is not the least 



294 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

testimony among the ancients ; while yet, unquestionably, the citation of 
Athanasius, in his Synopsis of Sacred Scripture, 1 is a valid document in 
favor of it ; and, at least, by this testimony of Athanasius we are author- 
ized to believe that there was actually such an extract, so that there 
would certainly be great probability in supposing this to be the work 
which was commended for the instruction of catechumens ; especially 
when, in the Synopsis of Sacred Scripture, it is expressly mentioned 
that what is most true and divinely inspired, has been selected. 

Eespecting the other external evidences also, Starck has adduced only 
what is very unsatisfactory. In opposition to the opinion of Bruno and 
Le Clerc, he thinks that the Constitutions were neither made nor cor- 
rupted by Arians. But now, when Starck says, They who have 
conjectured this have not thought on the quotations of Epiphanius, 
nor have observed that there is no mention of them in the Arian contro- 
versies, — it may be replied, The citations of Epiphanius can give us no 
assurance that our Constitutions have not been corrupted by Arians. 
Then also, while we are willing here to abstain from the question how 
far the Constitutions of Epiphanius are identical with our Constitutions, 
Starck should have examined the citations of Epiphanius more accu- 
rately ; and the differences between the places of the Constitutions, as 
Epiphanius adduces them, and the same places as they are in our present 
Constitutions, should have convinced him that changes and corruptions 
in this work have been attempted. Now, although Epiphanius, who 
often seeks too zealously after supposed heresies, would not have char- 
acterized the Constitutions as a work which contained nothing at vari- 
ance with the Catholic system, 2 if at that time there had been in them 
any thing Arian ; yet this proves only that any changes and corruptions 
which they may exhibit, first came in after the times of Epiphanius. 
Hence it is easy to perceive that the Constitutions could not be made 
the subject of remark in the Arian controversies, since the single Arian 
expressions which are now found in this work were not found in it at 
that time. 

As to the Constitutions themselves, Starck judges that if we place 
together the traces occurring in them of more ancient and of more recent 
times, it becomes clear that they are neither the work of one man, nor 
the production of one age ; but that they are a confused collection, made 
here and there, in the apostolical churches, of ecclesiastical laws, some 
of them being old, and some of them new ; which probably, on account 
of those churches' having been guided by apostles, received the name 

1 Synopsis Sacra} Seripturae. 

2 Ovdev Tzapaxexapajfiivov ryg TrtoTecog, ovde r?/c 6/ioXoylac, &c. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. . 295 

4 instructions of the apostles ' (didu%al mv (iTTooro'W) or 'apostolical con- 
stitutions' (dmoaiohxal diuid^sig). This view Starck, as it were by the 
way, seeks to derive from the testimony of the Presbyter Timotheus ; 
which we shall examine in a subsequent discussion, where we shall 
endeavor to show that the view is erroneous. Further, Starck admits 
that it might be difficult to determine more nearly by whom the Consti- 
tutions were collected. Yet so much is proved, — that they were made 
at various earlier and later times ; and some of them existed already in 
the second and the third century. Several of them appeared to him to 
have been taken from the book of Hippolytus, entitled Apostolical Tra- 
ditions, 1 since, on the margin of the eighth book, almost throughout, the 
ancient manuscripts had the name of Hippolytus. It is not to be denied 
that this circumstance must necessarily have contributed to give currency 
to the opinion that the Constitutions were composed of various materials. 
Still more, however, must this opinion have gained in probability, when 
it appeared from the comparison of the Codex xxvi. Baroccianus, in the 
Bodleian library, that at least the eighth book consisted of various in- 
structions ; or, since several successive chapters of the eighth book were 
not found in this manuscript, that a number of various instructions were 
melted down into the eighth book. Here, since, in the examination 
respecting the eighth book, an extensive comparison of it with these 
instructions will be instituted, we merely intimate that, while neither 
manuscripts nor other external testimonies favor this view, no one ought, 
from the relation of the eighth book, to argue to all the other books ; 
but, on the contrary, the fact that the eighth book exhibits a very differ- 
ent character from that of the others, ought to make us careful, in judging 
of the Constitutions, to discriminate between the first seven books and 
the eighth. But Starck, in concluding his judgment, observes that they 
were probably collected for the very first time, in the fifth century, by 
that individual who has collected the apostolical canons, and added them 
to the Constitutions. 2 

Schmidt, too, in his Ecclesiastical History, has expressed his view 
only in a general way. He leaves it undetermined whether the dtard- 
£eig of Epiphanius are one and the same work with the dida%ri and the 
dida/al of Athanasius. Notwithstanding the council of Constanti- 
nople (in the year 692), and the testimony of Photius, it seems to him 
to be doubtful whether the Constitutions were corrupted, or whether it 
was only the fact that, at the time of this council, and at the time of 



1 ' kitocToTiLKoi napaduoet£. 

2 J. A. Starck, Geschichte des christliche Kirche des ersten Jahrlmnderts. Zwciter 
Band, S. 502-514. 



296 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Photius, much was held to be heretical that was not yet held to be 
such in the times of Epiphanius. Still he admits that we cannot assume 
our Constitutions to be altogether those ancient ones ; for much that the 
ancients read in theirs is not found in ours ; but, on the other hand, we 
must admit that the work which we have, arose out of those ancient 
Constitutions ; for it contains many passages which are quoted from them 
by Epiphanius and others. 

Besides, according to Schmidt's opinion, most of the regulations show 
that they could not have been written earlier than in the fourth century. 
He has also, it is probable, felt the later origin of the eighth book ; 
for, in concluding his judgment on the Constitutions, he adds, The 
nearer they advance towards their end, the more their contents seem to 
betray a later age. But when Schmidt further asserts that they doubt- 
less were continually subjected to alteration, we find, at least, no docu- 
ment for this assertion in the external historical testimonies, so far as 
they go ; and, as to the proof from internal reasons, this might not in 
general be easily brought. 

Rosenmiiller, in his History of the Interpretation of the Sacred Books, 
has furnished much that is valuable in assisting us to understand the 
plan and object which the author of the Constitutions had in writing or 
collecting them. 2 He also shows, in many places, how perpetually, in 
the Constitutions, their author is endeavoring to send us back to the Old 
Testament, and to its discipline and ecclesiastical regulations ; and how 
he strives to draw analogies and parallels between the Levitical priest- 
hood and the Christian worship, and to transfer the idea of this priesthood 
to the Christian church, in order thereby to gain a powerful authority for 
innovations in ecclesiastical discipline, and for the unlimited respect, the 
power and the influence of the Bishops in the hierarchy at that time 
gradually developing itself. But, as to the origin of the Constitutions, he 
presents us neither any thing new and peculiar, nor any critical result, 
drawn from the earlier investigations. He believes only that no one can 
determine who the author was, and at what time he wrote ; but it seems 
to him probable that the Constitutions were collected neither by one 
author nor at one time, but by various authors and at various times ; and 
that, in the progress of ages, new constitutions were added, as new occa- 
sions arose. In this manner, we may make a general reply to the gen- 
eral representation that in the work much is contained which already, in 



1 J. E. Ch. Schmidt, Handbuch der christlichen Kirchengeschichte. Erstc Theil, 
S. 481-484. 

2 Jo. Geo. Rosenmiiller, Historia Interpretationis Librorum Sacrorum in Ecclesia 
Christiana inde ab Apostolorum cetatc usque ad Origenem, pars i. p. 117-147. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 297 

the second century, was received in the Greek church, but much also 
which did not come into use before the third or fourth century. For 
suppose the Constitutions were prepared or collected in the third or fourth 
century, then their author or collector could, at the same time, besides 
the dogmas and disciplinary regulations which had become customary in 
his time, borrow much also from the earlier centuries, and take it into his 
Constitutions, without our being permitted to infer that he wrote in one 
of those earlier centuries. 

But how important for the study of archaeology our Constitutions are, 
may be perceived with peculiar clearness from the great archaeological 
work, for which we in modern times are indebted to Augusti, who, by re- 
viving this so important, and yet for a long time entirely neglected study, 
has unquestionably gained for himself great credit. For in all archaeo- 
logical investigations which concern the first three or four centuries, 
recourse can usually be had to our Constitutions ; and since from them 
a great multitude of materials, or at least valuable contributions for most 
of the materials, of Christian archaeology, can and must be derived, they 
are much used and had in view by this author, throughout all parts of 
his work. It is so much the more to be lamented, that he has not given 
a preliminary dissertation, comprehensive and entering into detail, re- 
specting this so much contested, yet exceedingly important production ; 
for with his extensive reading, and his knowledge of the proper sources, 
he would have been preeminently in a condition to establish a satisfac- 
tory result. For although Augusti reminds us, 1 that properly historico- 
critical investigations and new disclosures respecting unsettled and dis- 
putable points of Christian archaeology did not lie within the scope of his 
work, and that the consideration of these subjects, as occasions present 
themselves, must not interfere with the principal tendency of the whole, 
which should be directed more to the general than to the particular ; yet 
we believe, that, while even what is said in less important matters should 
have its value, it is not only desirable, but even necessary for the whole, 
here to examine more nearly, and to establish what is to be affirmed. 
For from his not having done this, there has arisen the awkwardness 
that in his many quotations and his multifarious use of the Constitutions, 
he could never refer to a result, or at least to an established opinion, of 
his own ; and that, whenever he makes a citation, he must repeat that 
by most of the learned they are assigned to the fourth century, but that 
they contain various materials from the second century and the third. 
In this way, it is true, the using of the Constitutions is made very easy ; 



1 Preface to the first volume of the Denkwiirdigkeiterij p. 11. 



298 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

but, on the other hand, it must necessarily appear arbitrary ; and thus, 
indeed, it comes to rest on a mere assumption. We shall often have 
occasion to advert to the frequent use of the Constitutions, which is found 
in all the volumes of the work that we have just mentioned, and thence 
to show what may be regarded as Augusti's general view respecting the 
Constitutions, of whose origin and contents he, to be sure, has directly 
treated, but without having satisfied himself, as it appears from his cita- 
tions elsewhere. 

Augusti leaves it doubtful, whether the didocx^ and dida'/al mentioned 
in Eusebius and Athanasius are one and the same work with our collec- 
tion, since they gave no citations from them ; yet the identity of our col- 
lection with that of Epiphanius could be shown. Without, however, 
instituting a nearer comparison between the Constitutions of Epiphanius 
and ours, Augusti mentions, that, certainly in Epiphanius also, some 
citations occur, which do not agree with our present text ; but whether 
this diversity arises from a less exact quoting, made from memory, or 
from an entirely different edition, so to speak, could not be reduced to 
certainty. Respecting the rejection of the Constitutions by the Trullan 
Council, held at Constantinople, A.D. 692, Augusti conjectures that it 
was not so much dogmatic errors as ecclesiastico-political heresies, on 
account of which this council — which, in so many points, has opposed 
the Romish hierarchy — rejected the Constitutions. Then, after pre- 
senting an array of various opinions, he thinks it evident that all skilful 
judges, indeed, agree in the rejection of the apostolical origin and imme- 
diate promulgation of these Constitutions, but at the same time, also, that 
no one could place our present collection of them later than in the sixth 
century ; and that most assume that there are contained in it materials, 
some of which are from the earliest period, and some, no doubt, from the 
second century and the third. This assumption is of itself, to a great 
extent, arbitrary ; and it is easy to perceive that it is so broad and am- 
biguous as to give room for proceeding arbitrarily in using the Constitu- 
tions ; and that Augusti, throughout his whole investigation, never gained 
a firm position, to which, amidst his abundant use of these documents in 
his great archaeological work, he might go back, and sustain himself. 

Here we must mention a new work in ecclesiastical history, which, if 
the inquiries and results laid down in it had proved themselves to be true 
and correct, must necessarily have made an epoch in the ecclesiastical 
history of the first three centuries. As we shall several times be under 
the necessity of referring to it, we here give briefly the result of the 

1 Die Agape oder der geheime Weltbund der Christen, von Clemens in Rom unter 
Domitians Rcgierung gestiftct. Dargcstellt von Dr. August Kcstncr. Jena. 1819. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 299 

investigation, and endeavor to refute it, so far as it concerns our Consti- 
tutions. 

Kestner, in his work entitled The Love Feast, sought to point out the 
existence of a secret Christian confederacy, clear traces of which he 
thought that he had found in the historical sources of the first Christian 
centuries. According to his view, the plan was devised by the Roman 
Bishop Clement, to effect, throughout the world, a revolution which 
should make Christianity victorious over the religions, the manners, and 
the institutions of antiquity. By means of a secret confederacy which 
should prepare the way for the overthrow of the old politico-religious 
constitution of the world, that politic, far-seeing man, inspired by Christ, 
believed it possible to achieve the decided triumph of the Christian 
cause. By a great multitude of writings, forged agreeably to the spirit 
of the time, and to the object of the confederacy, and circulated under 
the names of Christians generally honored ; by the introduction of a new 
mode of explaining the genuine writings of the apostles and prophets, 
invented for this purpose ; and by true and energetic coadjutors in many 
countries, Clement first had the skill to combine into one body the vari- 
ous Christian, apostolical sects, and to give uniform regulations and dis- 
cipline to all the compliant churches, according to his so-called Apostol- 
ical Constitution of the confederacy. This is set forth by Kestner him- 
self, as the substance of his investigation. 1 After he has pointed out the 
existence of this confederacy, he endeavors to trace its history till towards 
the end of the second century. At the time of Clement's death, this con- 
federacy, according to a very probable estimate, had more than a million 
of firmly attached adherents, scattered in all countries ; and from history 
it would appear that, till the reign of the Antonines, the successors of 
Clement in the presidential chair of the confederacy at Rome had al- 
ways, by their influence, held the extensive confederacy together, inter- 
nally and externally ; although it was only with effort, and by various 
shrewdly calculated and craftily executed measures, that they had been 
able to secure to themselves the supremacy. 

It is impossible here to enter into a discussion respecting these discov- 
eries; especially since the author himself, in his preface (p. 18), has 
announced that his historical evidence for the existence of such a Chris- 
tian confederacy, established in the first century, rests not on single 
facts or on single historical statements, but on a whole series of such facts, 
and on their attitude in respect to each other. Still, I cannot forbear to 
express my judgment, that, however much in this work maybe spiritedly 



1 Einleitung, S. 17-22. 



300 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

conceived and ingeniously combined, it presents no historical proof of the 
fact which it asserts. Perhaps it would not be too much to say, that he 
who has truly known Christianity, he who has experienced it in him- 
self, he who, through all its centuries, has, with due examination, 
traced its history as a proof, continually renewing itself, of its divine 
power, would hardly be led to such a conjecture ; which cannot fully 
explain the rapid extension of Christianity. But we are willing to leave 
this undetermined, in order to avoid the reproach of arbitrariness in our 
judgment. In the mean time, I cannot here pass over one circumstance 
which presents itself to historical criticism, and in view of which I do 
not hesitate to reject at once the hypothesis of Kestner. Most of the 
proofs which he thinks he can bring as deciding in favor of it are borrowed 
from sources whose value and fitness to be used are by no means made 
to appear. Those sources cannot be acknowledged as authentic, till ac- 
curate investigations, entering into detail respecting their origin, their 
compilation, and their contents, have presented something firm respecting 
the heterogeneous elements which they contain. He has also endeav- 
ored to make his hypothesis credible by testimonies whose validity and 
fitness to be admitted might not be assented to by ecclesiastical histo- 
rians without further inquiry. Most of these documents and writings, 
from which he argues, have, by the greater part of learned Protestants 
and Catholics, been acknowledged as spurious productions of later writ- 
ers palmed on their pretended authois, corrupted, too, it is probable, 
and not at all belonging in so early a period. Most of his discoveries, 
and the proofs for them, he derives from the Recognitions of Clement, 
from the Acts of his Martyrdom, from the pretended writings and letters 
of Dionysius the Areopagite, from the testaments of the twelve Patri- 
archs, from the Apocalypse of Ezra, from the epistles of Ignatius, &e. ; 
all writings from which we should argue with great caution, and not 
altogether arbitrarily, as Kestner has done. He does, indeed, acknowl- 
edge that these writings are spurious, and much interpolated ; but he 
asserts that they were forged and interpolated for the very purpose of 
serving the object of the Christian confederacy discovered by him, and 
that hence we may argue from them the sooner and the more confidently. 
But this may well pass for reasoning in a circle, till something better 
established, in respect to these writings, come in the place of an arbitrary 
judgment. 

We now turn from this his general view, on which we think we have 
bestowed sufficient attention, and subject his view respecting our Consti- 
tutions to a nearer scrutiny. 



VARIOUS OPINIONS. 301 

Kestner 1 regards the Apostolical Constitutions as the statute-book of 
the Christian confederacy discovered by him, to which the collection of 
canons was added as a supplement. But he seems to have entirely mis- 
understood the external testimonies respecting the Constitutions, or to 
have explained them so as to favor his preconceived view. When he 
infers from the testimony of Eusebius, 2 that the Apostolical Constitutions, 
even those which contained the regulations of the Christian confederacy, 
were a work generally known in the time of that historian, it is, indeed, 
not easy to conceive how he could derive this from the testimony of 
Eusebius, who in the simplest terms mentions as belonging, among the 
apocryphal books, what are called the teachings (or institutes) of the 
apostles? This is the more to be wondered at, since, doubtless, he must 
have known that Clement is never mentioned in any testimony of the 
ancients, before the second canon of the Trullan Council. Since, in the 
present so-called Constitutions, a multitude of regulations are contained, 
which can be referred, not to the catholic church of the confederacy, but 
to the hierarchical catholic church, Kestner concludes further, that, at the 
time of Epiphanius, when the Clementine confederacy, with its mysteries, 
had begun to be dissolved, the aim of those who sought for power was 
directed to set aside the old constitution of the confederacy, and to intro- 
duce a newly fabricated one in its place. Yet here also the testimonies 
are very confused. He says, indeed, that on a sudden, in the end of the 
fourth century, Epiphanius, in several of his writings, represents the 
Constitutions as a genuine work of the apostles. But how? Had 
Eusebius ever mentioned them as a work of Clement, or does not Euse- 
bius call them dida/ccl t&v dLTtoawlwv, as much as Epiphanius calls them 
diu.T(x$ig twv ccTtoorwXbjv ? A proof that the new so-called Apostolical 
Constitutions were substituted for the old, Kestner would deduce from 
the condemnatory judgment of the Trullan Council. But here the con- 
fusion reaches its highest point. For the Trullan Council rejects most 
expressly a Clementine edition of the Constitutions. 4 Hence, even if 
his hypothesis were true and tenable, he cannot once say that those 
hierarchico-ecclesiastical Constitutions, which should form an opposition 
to those pretended earlier Clementine Constitutions, were rejected by 
that council ; but he must acknowledge that the work rejected was one 
which proceeded from Clement. A mere comparison of the Constitutions 
of Epiphanius with ours would have led him to the right result ; — that, 



1 P. 187. 

2 Ecclesiastical History, b. iii. c. 25. 

3 Kal Tuv uxogt6?mv at ?.eyo/j.evai didaxai. 

4 Tdc tuv avTuv ayluv 6ui K?^uevror 6ia7a~eir, 



302 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

certainly, the Constitutions were altered, but that this altering of them 
must have occurred, not between the time of Eusebius and that of 
Epiphanius, but, much rather, between the time of Epiphanius and that 
of the Trullan Council ; for our Constitutions do not entirely agree with 
those of Epiphanius, and this council assigns, as the ground of rejecting 
them, their having been corrupted by heretics; while, on the other 
hand, Epiphanius testifies, respecting the Constitutions in his day, that 
they were free from all heresy. 1 

Gieseler 2 thinks that'lthe Constitutions were composed towards the 
end of the third century, but that they underwent various modifications, 
according to the changes of ecclesiastical usages, till, in the fourth and 
the fifth century, they acquired their present form. With some earlier 
ecclesiastical historians, he supposes that the Constitutions contain mate- 
rials from various times. But he has not indicated how far, according 
to his opinion, these modifications and changes have affected the Consti- 
tutions ; whether the interpolations and corruptions concerned larger 
and essential parts of the Constitutions; or whether only changes in 
the detail, as, further on, we shall have occasion to show, have been 
undertaken. 

Neander, 3 also, is of the opinion that the Constitutions gradually arose 
from various pieces produced in the latter part of the second century, and 
subsequently, till some time in the fourth. He remarks that the origin 
of these, perhaps, is analogous to the origin of the so-called apostolical 
creed. For as, originally, in a dogmatic respect, men spoke of an apos- 
tolical tradition, without supposing that apostles had set forth a confes- 
sion of faith, so, in regard to the Constitution and usages of the church, 
men spoke, in the same sense, of an apostolical tradition, without sup- 
posing that the apostles had given written laws respecting these matters. 
From this mode of speaking, it came at last to be conceived that the 
apostles had written a confession of faith, and a collection of ecclesiastical 
laws. Hence, Neander remarks, various collections of this kind may 
have arisen ; as that which Epiphanius adduces is manifestly not iden- 
tical with our Constitutions. Still, from this circumstance, according to 
my conviction, it cannot be inferred that the collection which Epiphanius 

1 H. P. K. Henke, in his Geschichte der christlichen Kirche, Bd. i. S. 393, mentions 
the Constitutions, though he does it only by the way. The same may be said of J. T 
L. Danz, in his Lchrbuch der christlichen Kirchengesehichte, Th. i. s. 59. 
| 2 Lehrbuch der Kirchengesehichte, Bd. i. S. 113. [Text-book of Church History, 
vol. i. p. 68, in Cunningham's translation.] 

3 Allgemeine Geschichte der christlichen Religion unci Kirche, Bd. i. S. 1105. [Gen- 
eral History of the Christian Religion and Church (where the author treats of the more 
eminent teachers), vol. i. p. 409, in Rose's translation; and p. 660, in Torrey's.] 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 303 

knew, was another and entirely different collection from ours ; but since, 
on the contrary, the Constitutions of Epiphanius are, in many places, 
identical with ours, it could only be inferred that, after his time, they 
suffered changes. But besides, if I should not succeed in showing the 
identity of the dida/al cited by Eusebius, with the dica&$eig of Epi- 
phanius, still it will always remain problematical, whether there were 
different collections ; and the reasons in favor of the identity will cer- 
tainly, at least, counterbalance those which can be urged against it. 



CHAPTER II. 

DISCUSSION OF THE EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES RESPECTING THE CON- 
STITUTIONS. 

Testimonies of Eusebius and Athanasius. 

The first historical testimony for the Constitutions, we find in Euse- 
bius, who died A.D. 340. It occurs in the twenty-fifth chapter of the 
third book of his Ecclesiastical History, the celebrated statement respect- 
ing ' the Sacred Scriptures acknowledged as genuine, and those that are 
not such.' In enumerating and judging the ancient ecclesiastical writ- 
ings, he mentions, among the spurious and apocryphal books, our Consti- 
tutions ; for he describes them by the expression, What are called the 
Instructions of the Apostles. 1 Besides this testimony of Eusebius, there 
are two testimonies of Athanasius, which we would examine in connec- 
tion with this ; for they are not less important in determining the age of 
the Constitutions. In one of his writings, Athanasius, who died A.D. 
373, mentions a book, not indeed as canonical, but as commended 
by the fathers to be read by new converts and catechumens, and names 
this, What is called the Instruction of the Apostles. 2 In another, his 



1 Eusebius, Eccl. Hist. b. iii. c. 25. Among the spurious must be numbered 
botb the books called the Acts of Paul, and that called Pastor, and the Revelation 
of Peter. Besides these, the books called the Epistle of Barnabas, and what are 
called the Instructions of the Apostles (nac ruv tnrooToTiuv at ? u ey6/j.evat didaxal). 

2 In his Festal Epistle, Works, torn. ii. ed. Paris, p. 39, 40 [ed. Paris, 1698, p. 963]. 
There are also other books besides these, not placed in the canon indeed, but approved 



304 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Synopsis, 1 he introduces it among the opposed books of the New Tes- 
tament. 2 Both the writers agree in their opinion respecting the book : 
Eusebius reckons it as spurious; Athanasius, as not placed in the 
canon. We may also, without doubt, regard their testimony as the first 
firm historical point, from which we shall be able to discover criteria for 
the time of its origin, or at least of its existence. But many have 
viewed the testimonies of both as quite unimportant, or, at least, as 
proving nothing in respect to the age of the Constitutions. They were 
of the opinion that both Eusebius and Athanasius had and described 
a work entirely different from our Constitutions ; that their testimony, 
therefore, affords not the least evidence in favor of the Constitutions. 
Indeed, they went still further. They also denied the identity of the 
Constitutions which Eusebius and Athanasius adduce, with those which 
Epiphanius cites in many places of his work on Heresies. This opin- 
ion James Usher, especially, has endeavored to carry through; and 
Daille 3 has not only assented to it, but has also endeavored to sus- 
tain and to establish it by some considerations superadded to those which 
are brought forward by Usher. But probably it was polemic zeal against 
Bovius and Turrian that carried them so far as to deny that the testimo- 
nies of Eusebius and Athanasius are of any importance, or indicate any 
thing in favor of our Constitutions. For Bovius and Turrian had directly 
assumed the identity of that work, the Instruction of the Apostles. 4 
with our present Constitutions, and had endeavored to establish, on the 
above-adduced testimonies, its apostolic origin ; incomprehensibly enough, 



by the fathers to be read by those who have recently come to us, and desire to be 
taught the doctrine of piety: The Wisdom of Solomon, and the Wisdom of Sirach, 
and Esther, and Judith, and Tobias, and what is called the Instruction of the Apostles 
[nai didaxv KalovfievT] tuv ukogtoTlov), and the Pastor. But, beloved, while those are 
placed in the canon, and these are read, there is nowhere any mention of the apoc- 
ryphal ; but they are the device of heretics, writing them indeed when they please, but 
gratuitously assigning and affixing dates to them, that, as bringing forward ancient 
documents, they may plausibly deceive the simple. 

1 It is, indeed, very uncertain whether this writing actually proceeded from Athana- 
sius. At the same time, although it is not found in the manuscripts which contain his 
collected works, yet it is written in his spirit. The author is, unquestionably, of the 
Alexandrian school, and, in any case, does not belong to an age much later than that 
of Athanasius. The testimonials of the ancients give us no additional information 
respecting the author of this writing. 

2 Synopsis Scripturse Sacra; Works, torn. ii. p. 154 [p. 202, cd. Paris, 1698]. Tt?c 
veag ttu7.lv dca^rjurjg avTiktybyLZva. ravra' — nepiochi Uerpov, irepiodoi 'laavvov, Trepiodot 
0wp, ivayyeTuov icaru Qg)/mv, dtdaxv uttootoIiuv, K?^/i£vna • £| wv, (XETefypamUqoav 
kiikeyzvTa tu a7^rj-&Earepa nai fieoTiVevvTa. TavTa Tci uvayivuoKO/xeva. &c. 

3 In the work already cited, i. c. 4, p. 62. 
* bidaxv ~Cov ukootoIuv. 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 305 

to be sure, since even those ecclesiastical fathers so decidedly deny them 
apostolical authority, and ascribe to them only a very subordinate value. 

While we unhesitatingly admit that those Constitutions with which 
Eusebius and Athanasius were acquainted, are not our present Constitu- 
tions, it may be confidently asserted that, in all probability, they are the 
same which Epiphanius, in many places, quotes expressly and copi- 
ously. 

We will state distinctly the various reasons which can be adduced for 
and against this identity. The first objection against it is borrowed from 
the Festal Epistle of Athanasius. He reckons the Instruction of the 
Apostles 1 among the books which must be used in teaching catechumens : 2 
but the Constitutions are directed to the Bishops ; they treat very much 
of ecclesiastical government ; and by the eighty-fifth canon it is expressly 
forbidden to communicate them to all, ' because of the mysteries con- 
tained in them.' 3 At the same time, much may be said in reply. While 
in the eighty-fifth canon it is expressly said, 'And the Constitutions 
dedicated to you the Bishops, by me Clement, in eight books,' 4 it is also, 
on the other hand, said, in the same canon, ' Let the following books be 
venerable and holy to you all, clergy and laity.' 5 Even admit that this 
could be explained otherwise, and that the preceding objection is not 
removed by it ; yet, unquestionably, we may oppose to that objection the 
beginning of the first book of the Constitutions, ' The apostles and elders 
to all those who, from among the Gentiles, have believed on the Lord Jesus 
Christ.' 6 To this we may add, that from our investigation, it will appear 
that the eighty-fifth canon was, in all probability, added by a later hand ; 
that, at least, it is not so ancient as the first edition of the Constitutions, 7 
which Eusebius, Athanasius, and Epiphanius, had before them ; so that 
we cannot well hesitate to conclude that nothing can be inferred against 
Athanasius from the eighty-fifth canon, and, consequently, nothing 
against our Constitutions from the testimony of Athanasius. 

There are also, for the Constitutions, two testimonies, which, although 
they belong to a far later time, we would here, on account of the connec- 
tion, examine carefully ; for from them arguments are brought against our 



1 Aidarh tuv uttogtoIov. 



2 'AvayivuGKEodai rolg aprt TTpoGepxousvoic; ml PovXofj.evoig Karrjxdadai rbv ttjq evae- 
i3eiag "koyov. 

3 Am tu ev avralq fivanm. 

4 Kal at diarayal v/uv rolq imoKunots 6C k[iov K?.7}fievTog, iv oKrd j3ij3}uotg TvpoGetyu)- 

VTJflEVat. 

5 'Egto 6e i'fuv Tzdai iikrjpiKolg Kal Zai'/cotf /?£/3/Ua OE.3aGjj.ia Kal ayia. 

6 01 utzogto?m Kal oi rcpEofivTzpoi vaoL idlg k^ kfivuv TuorEvoaGiv Eig top Kvpiov, &c. 

7 Aiarut;£ir. 

20 



306 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Constitutions. Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople, mentions a work 
entitled the Instruction of the Apostles. 1 In like manner, Nicephorus 
Callisti mentions the Apostolical Constitutions. 2 Both the works adduced 
by these writers must, according to the opinion of some, be different 
from our Constitutions. For the Instruction named by Nicephorus of 
Constantinople contained, according to the translation of the librarian 
Anastasius, only two hundred lines. Hence, on account of its containing 
so little, Daille rejects the idea entirely, that our Constitutions could ever 
have been thus described, consisting, as they did, of eight books, of no 
inconsiderable extent. At the same time, we must here not overlook a 
very ingenious conjecture, which also Daille 3 presents, but, in reference to 
this point, has left unnoticed. It is, he thinks, not only possible, but very 
probable, that there were of the Constitutions two simultaneous editions 
— (may I be permitted to use this expression, since a false notion could 
easily be connected with the word collection, as if these books had arisen 
from many small parts) ; — that the one edition embraced all the eight 
books of the Constitutions ; but that the other was, as it were, only an 
extract, leaving out all that was false and injurious, or less useful for the 
multitude. This conjecture is founded especially on the fact, that, 
respecting the Instruction of the Apostles, 4 Athanasius seems to judge 
more favorably in the Festal Epistle than in the Synopsis ; and since he, 
in the Synopsis, adds, — From which disputed books the more true and 
divinely inspired portions being selected, these have been moulded into 
a different form, 5 — we may reasonably conclude that it is the extract 
which he, in his Festal Epistle, commends to the catechumens ; and that 
it was even this which Nicephorus, in his chronology, cites to us, since he 
perhaps had seen only this, and not the whole work. To invalidate the 
objection of which we are speaking, we might also prefer the reading of 
the manuscript of John Croius, which, instead of the letter (V) indicating 
two hundred, has the letters (or) indicating five hundred. Still, this is 
quite unnecessary ; and, unless we assume that there were two editions, 
many difficulties would remain unexplained. By assuming this, the 
objection would entirely fall away, which is brought from the last canon 
against the testimony of Athanasius ; for, while he found the extract 



1 In the end of his Chronology, where, concerning the books of the Scriptures, he 
says, Kal una rr/g viag elolv aTcoupvtya .... didaxv anoaTolwv orixoi a'. &c. 

2 Nicephorus Callisti, Eccles. Hist. b. 3.c. 18. Tovrov ovyypatyea teal ruv u-ooTofa- 
k£)v dtaruJ-eoyVj tiKkti, iYr} ical rtiv lepuv navovuv tugtevouev. 

3 In the work already cited, p. 66-68. 

4 AifiaXT/ tuv uttoot6?mv. 

5 'E£ uv [ieTe<f>pu<7&T}'jav tK^eyevra tu u?,7]d£arepa Kal dtoKvevara. 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 307 

from the Constitutions useful for the catechumens, he would, perhaps, on 
the same account as the last canon, have found the entire Constitutions 
unsuitable for them. Two external testimonies, moreover, may be 
brought in favor of the opinion that the Instruction 1 mentioned by Euse- 
bius and Athanasius was regarded as similar to the Constitutions of the 
Apostles, written by Clement. 2 These are that of Zonaras on the Festal 
Epistle of Athanasius, quoted by Usher, in his Prolegomena to the 
Epistles of Ignatius, c. 7; 3 and that of Matthew Blastares, who, for 
the most part, agrees with him. 4 

The third reason for his assertion, Usher has drawn from the catalogue 
of the sacred books, which is appended to the Questions of Anastasius of 
Nice, and is found in the library of the University of Oxford. There the 
Instruction of the Apostles 5 and the Teaching of Clement 6 are brought 
forward as different works, and both described as apocryphal. Certainly 
it is not to be denied that our Constitutions are called a Teaching. 7 
Turrian states that he found, in an old Greek manuscript, this title 9 
together with that of the Institutes, 8 and has connected them both 
together ; whence has arisen the present superscription which the Con- 
stitutions bear. This title of a Teaching 9 is confirmed even by the 
Constitutions, which ascribe this name to themselves in several places : 
as b. i. c. 1 ; b. ii. c. 39 ; b. vi. c. 14 and 18. This name occurs also in 
a citation by Epiphanius, Heresy lxxx. 7. 10 Hence, some have judged 
that the Instructions 11 must have been different from our Constitutions. 

In the catalogue, also, which is appended to the Questions of Anasta- 
sius, in the manuscript 1789 of the Royal Library at Paris, the Instruc- 
tions of the Apostles (dida/al t&v dcnouTolMv") and the Teaching of 
Clement (diduoxalla Klr\vievTog) are presented as different works ; but 
here it is important to remember the difference, which has been proved 
to be highly probable, between the whole work and the extract. Even 
irrespectively of this, however, why may there not have been a Teaching 

1 Aidaxv- 

2 Aiard^eig r&v aTToaroXuv Sid rov KXfjfievrog ypatbeiaag. 

3 MSS. 277, 507, in the Royal Library. Tf/v de didaxyv rcov airooToluv, rives Aeyou- 
civ elvai rug did rov K?jf](j,evrog ypacpeiGag ruv uttogtoIuv diardijeig, ug rj "keyofievr} ekttj 
ovvodog dvayivijGiceG$ai oh avyxupel, wc vn&ev&eioac ml napatydapeiGag bird aiperin&v. 

4 Collector Canonum ineditus, in multorumbibliothecis latens, lit. (3, cap. 11; where, 
concerning the passage in Athanasius, he says : "Egudev de ruv Kavovi£o/j,evcov elvai 
drjoiv, rf/v aooiav SoAo ( ttwvroc, &c. tov noif^eva ml ttjv didaxyv ruv dyiuv uizogt62.uv 
ravTTjv tie i] ekttj cvvodog ij-Qerrjcev. 

5 Aidaxal tuv utzogto/mv. 6 AidacmXia Klrjfxevrog. 

7 Aidaoml.ia. 8 Aiarayal. 9 AidaaKalia. 

10 'Ev raZg diaruS-eot ruv anoor6?,uv QaoKet 6 tietog loyog ml t/ didaGKokia, 

11 Aidaxal. 



308 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

of Clement (dtdaaxaXla Klr\fievTog) different from the Teaching generally 
used [y.adohxr\ diduoxallu) ? Indeed, we still find traces of there having 
been very many other Teachings (didaaxallai). Thus there was Peter's 
Teaching, mentioned by Origen and Damascenus ; there were also the 
Teachings of the Holy Apostles (diduoxallui, twv aylwp unoaioXuv), men- 
tioned in a work on jurisprudence j 1 and there is found among the Ethi- 
opians an Apostolic Teaching. 

To the reasons which have been considered, Daille adds a fourth, as 
follows : — Athanasius, in his Synopsis, mentions and distinguishes the 
Instruction of the Apostles (dida/ri utkmjtoIwp) and the Clementines (iUy- 
(ikvna) as two books; but our Constitutions must have been contained in 
the Clementines, if they had been the same with the Instruction ( didaxr\) ; 
for they bear the name of Clement as the individual who arranged them. 
In explaining this circumstance, the distinction which we have already 
made between the whole work and the extract comes to our aid ; and 
here we must hold it fast. That extract might well be meant, when the 
Instruction (dida/ty was mentioned ; and Athanasius could not include 
it under the general name of the Clementines, since he probably did not 
know by whom it had been prepared. Besides, Cotelerius also brings a 
passage from Nicephorus, 2 where even the Apostolical Constitutions 
^diaicc^sig d.nooio).ixui} and the Clementines (to. KXrjjuivTia'j are named 
as two different works ; so that the citation of Athanasius is nothing 
unusual, and does not prove what some have supposed could be deduced 
from it. 

The fifth objection Daille has derived from the silence of Eusebius. 
In his Ecclesiastical History, b. iii. c. 15 and 16, where he speaks con- 
cerning the first epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians, he repre- 
sents it as being authentic and admirable. Here he would have had 
occasion to speak of our Constitutions ; but he mentions neither the Con- 
stitutions (<5ittT(/.£ffc) nor the Instruction (dida/ty of the Apostles. Still, 
in reference to this, it is worth while to consider b. iii. c. 38, where 
Eusebius, as it were on purpose, treats very copiously concerning the 
works of Clement; and where he rejects the second epistle to the 
Corinthians, which is extant under the name of Clement, and then adds 
the following: — There are also other writings, verbose and of great 
length, which, not long since, some have brought forward as his, — con- 
taining the dialogues of Peter and of Apion ; of which there is no men- 
tion at all among the ancients ; nor do they preserve pure the character 



1 Lib. v. Juris Graeco-Ilomani, in intcrrogatione secunda Marci Alcxandri et rcspon- 
sione Thcodori Balsamoni3 ad illam. 
8 Hist. b. 3, c. 18. 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 309 

of the apostolic orthodoxy. 1 But, above all, should be considered the 
sentence with which Eusebius, in that very place, finishes his critique on 
the writings of Clement : — ' The writing, therefore, of Clement, which is 
acknowledged as genuine, is evident.' 2 

From this, to be sure, it would now seem that, whether the Instructions 
of the Apostles (didu/al u7io(n6U)t>) bore the name of Clement, rightfully 
or wrongfully, Eusebius must here have mentioned and judged them. 
Still, something on the contrary may be said with good reason. In the 
first place, it is not necessary to urge particularly, in this passage, 
the silence of Eusebius, as must certainly have been done, had he 
not, in b. iii. c. 25, mentioned ' what are called the Instructions of the 
Apostles' (tCov unouTolojv al Xeyofievai dida^al). Besides, Eusebius 
has here, in like manner, passed over in silence the Constitutions of 
Clement (dtara^eig iov Klr^&vrog), as he has the Clementine Journeys, 
which, in another place, he has mentioned under the name of the Acts 
of Peter. But it is probable that, although the Constitutions were then 
already known under the name of the Apostolical Constitutions, they 
were not yet ascribed to Clement. 

Finally, it is alleged that our Constitutions, which contained many 
Arian doctrines, had not been used by the Arians to sustain their errors; 
that at least Athanasius had not deemed it necessary to contradict 
them as such. Hence it follows of itself, that although in the times of 
Athanasius there was a work entitled the Instruction of the Apostles 
(diduyr] jbjv u7ioot6)m>v), yet our Constitutions had not come into existence ; 
and that, therefore, our present Constitutions were composed out of the 
Instruction of the Apostles (diduxr} twp &7ioot6Xo>v^ and the Constitutions 
(dtuT&seic) mentioned by Epiphanius. On the other side, Cotelerius 
rightly objects that the Arians could then have brought forward many 
other writings, and Athanasius would have had to contradict many ; 
and he adduces, as an example, that the Recognitions of Clement, 
though full of Arianism, were not used by them to promote their cause. 
At least, no trace of this is found in the writings of Athanasius. It is 
readily admitted to be very strange that our Constitutions, if then 
extant in their present form, were not used in order to set forth as apos- 
tolical the principal dogma in which they departed from the general 
church ; for, as to the dogma of the Trinity, our present Constitutions 



1 *H(5?7 6e nat irepa Tro2.veir>) koa. [mapa avyypafi/iara ug tov avrov x^C kclI irpurjv 
tlvec irpofiyayov, Uerpov dr/ nal 'kiuxovog dtahoyovg irepiixovTa- uv ovd' blug fivq/XT] Tig 
irapa rolg nakaiolg (peperai, ovde yap Kad-apbv rrjg uttogtoXlktjc op&odo&ag uttoqu&i tov 
XapaKTfjpa. 

2 'H filv ovv tou Klr/fjievTog 6/j.oloyov/jlvr} ypa<p7j, npodqlog kanv. 



310 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

speak entirely in the Arian spirit. But, on the contrary, it is very 
natural that the Arians have not used the Constitutions for this purpose. 
For, in the beginning of the Arian controversy, the Constitutions were 
not yet extant in the form in which we have them at present, and in 
which much that is Arian is contained. Our aim is not to show that 
the Instruction of the Apostles (tftda^rj tup b.novTdlwv} is not different 
from our Constitutions, but only that, in all probability, it is one and the 
same with the Constitutions (diaid^sig) mentioned by Epiphanius. But 
whether the Constitutions mentioned by Epiphanius are the same which 
we now possess, or not, or how far they have been corrupted by heretics, 
will be considered further on, in an investigation devoted to that subject. 

Here it will be enough to remark, that Epiphanius mentions them in 
such a way as shows that they contained nothing heretical, or at variance 
with the orthodoxy of the general church ; which (on Heresy lxx. 10) 
he says expressly. 1 Hence it is evident that the Constitutions, since 
they contained nothing particularly favorable to Arianism, could not 
be adduced by the Arians ; so that we are here under no necessity of 
assuming that the Instruction of the Apostles (dida%fi tow dLjioviol&v) and 
the Constitutions mentioned by Epiphanius are different. For were this 
to be assumed, then it would remain unexplained how our Constitutions 
could have remained unknown to Eusebius and Athanasius, those thor- 
ough and diligent inquirers into ecclesiastical antiquities. But we must 
assume that they did remain unknown, if they were not mentioned as the 
Instructions of the Apostles. 

Grabe 2 assents to the opinion of Usher, but without assigning any 
reasons which we have not already considered. 



Comparison of the Testimonies of Epiphanius with those of the second 
Trullan canon, and of Photius. 

The testimony of Epiphanius is of very great value to us, since, in 
many places of his work on heresies, he introduces the Constitutions, 
judges respecting their contents, and, in doing this, gives us, as it were, 
a measuring rod, according to which we may make an estimate of the 
Constitutions with which he was acquainted. In another respect, too, 
his testimony is of importance. Several citations which, in that work, 



1 Haaa yap hv avrrj kuvovik?/ tu^c e/i<f>£peTai, ml ovdev rcapaKexapayfievov t?/c nia- 
rewf, ovde r//f u/iohoyiac, ovde rrjg enKlijoiacTiKye dioiKyceiog, nal navovog teat moreoc;, &c. 

2 In his Spicilegium Patram Sseculi I. p. 41. 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 311 

he has made from the Constitutions, enable us to institute a comparison 
between the Constitutions which we now possess, and those which he 
had before him ; and this will lead us to important results. 

The judgment of Epiphanius respecting the Constitutions seems very 
favorable. He says, indeed, that the book was doubted by many, but 
yet that it was not to be rejected. It contained nothing that was hereti- 
cal, or that departed from the ecclesiastical orthodoxy, discipline, and 
government. 1 Besides, he introduces the decisions of the Constitutions, 
in other places, always with great respect. To this judgment we 
must attribute the more weight, since we know how very much averse 
Epiphanius was to all heterodoxy, and that, in this respect, he has 
often gone too far. Hence it is not a little striking that these Con- 
stitutions, to which he awards, in full measure, the praise of ortho- 
doxy, have, at a later period, been rejected on account of heterodoxy 
charged upon them. And yet it is so. In the second canon of the 
Trullan Council 2 [A.D. 692], we find this cause expressly assigned for 
the rejection of the Constitutions. By the heterodox they have been 
interpolated, and what is heretical mingled with them, for the ruin of the 
church ; and this has contributed to darken the splendor of the divine 
doctrines. Therefore, said the fathers, we have, for the welfare of the 
church, cast them away. 3 Of the same import is the judgment of 



: Heresy lxx. 11. Etc tovto 6e ol amol Avdiavol Trapatyepovat ttjv t£)v ar:ocT67xdv 
diara^v, ovaav fiev Tolg TcohXotg kv a^t/le/crcj, uXk' ova uSokl^ov ■ naoa yup kv avrrj 
navovLKr) ruftc efifepsrat, nal ovdev -apanexapayfiivov rrjq mareuc, ovds ttjq o/to/ioylag, 
ovds ttjq ennlriGLaoTLKTiQ dioinfjoeuc, &c. [But to this the same Audians perversely 
apply the Constitution of the Apostles, a work doubted by most, but not to be cast 
away ; for in it every canonical arrangement is contained, and no adulteration of the 
faith, or of the profession, or of the ecclesiastical administration.] 

2 Ivvodog -ev&inTri, concilium quinisextum. 

3 "Edoije 6e nal tovto tq uyia ravry gvv66(j kuTJugtu, te nal airovSacoTaTa, ugte fiiveiv 
nal and tov vvv fteSaiovg, nal uG(j)a?islc TTpbg tjjvxcjv ■deparreiav nal laTpsiav iraduv Tovg 
vtto tuv Trpo i)jj,uv dy'uov nal evSo^uv uttogtoTluv bydoquovTa ttevte navovag. 'Et:el6tj 6e 
kv tovtoiq Tolq lavoGCV kvTETa\Tat dixEG^ai Tj/xug tu£ tuv avT&v ayiov tntOGTokuv 6cd 
JO?) fxevTOQ dtaTu^Eig^ alg tlgi ndXac iTrb tcjv ETEpodo^av ettl /jvfir/ T?/g eKnTiTjaiag, voda 
TLvil nal t-iva T?/g kKKXrjaiag 7rapeveTE-&ijaav, to eforpefre? nak?Mg tuv -&eco)v doy/narov 
rjjilv a[j.avp<l)GavTa, ttjv tuv tolovtov diaTaljEUV TrpoGcpopog d~Oj3oXf/v 7reTroi7}{ie&a, npbg 
ttjv tov xpt-OTiavmoTaTOv Tcot/iviov otKo6ofj,7/v nal uGQuheiav. ovdafitig kynpivovTEg to, ttjs 
aipETUiTjQ ip£v6o?ioycag Kvi/fiaTa, teal tjj yvrjaia tuv u.ttogt6?mv teal blonfaipti didaxy 
Trapevelpov-eg. [To this holy council it has seemed most suitable and most expressive 
of our watchful care, that the eighty-five canons, by the holy and glorious apostles who 
were before us, remain henceforth firm and infallible for the culture of souls and the 
remedy of passions ; but, since in these canons it is commanded that ye receive the 
Constitutions of the same Holy Apostles by Clement, in which, long ago, certain things, 
spurious and unknown to the church, were, to its injury, inserted by the heterodox, 



312 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Photius [Patriarch of Constantinople, A.D. 858 — ], who communicates 
to us several charges which were commonly brought against the Consti- 
tutions, and particularly attributes to them Arianism. 1 On the one 
hand, it is impossible to suspect the testimony of Epiphanius ; and on the 
other, those of the second canon and of Photius. Hence it only remains 
to assume, that, during the period which elapsed between Epiphanius 
and the second canon [that is, between the time when he wrote his 
work against heresies, about A.D. 380, and the time when the Trullan 
Council assembled, A.D. 692], the Constitutions which Epiphanius had 
must have been altered ; and that, most probably, they were still uncor- 
rupted in his time, but were interpolated afterwards. In this way we 
may reconcile the praise bestowed by Epiphanius, with the condemnation 
pronounced by the second canon of that council, and by Photius. 

How far this interpolation and corruption extended ; whether it affected 
the whole work ; whether pieces of considerable extent have been added ; 
or whether the corruption and the heretical addition occur only in partic- 
ular places, and by inserting expressions of no great length, is reserved 
for another examination, which we shall hereafter institute. Here we 
shall limit ourselves to a comparison of the passages from the Constitu- 
tions, that are found in the testimonies of Epiphanius, with the same 



darkening for us the becoming beauty of the divine doctrines, we have cast away such 
Constitutions advantageously for the edification and safety of the most Christian flock ; 
for we would by no means sanction the products of heretical falsehood, and secretly 
connect them with the genuine and unmutilated instruction of the apostles.] 

1 Photius, Biblothec. cod. 112, 113. 'Aveyvtoo&r] Klr/fcevrog rov 'PuftTjc revxv j&/3- 
Xluv 6vo • uv to (j.ev k.TiLypd<berat dtarayal ruv anoaroXcov did, K.?i7j/j,£vroc, ev cj ml ol r£>v 
cvvoduiuiv Kavovuv ra ud-polafzarc ruv anooroXuv mvoveg £Tnypa(j)6jj.evoi Trepiexovrai. 
[There have been read of Clement of Rome two books ; one of which is entitled Con- 
stitutions of the Apostles by Clement ; in which also are contained the canons, which, 
in the collection of synodical canons, are entitled those of the Apostles.] And be- 
low: Al dsye dtarayal rptal (.idvoig donovaiv svexso-tfaf KaKOTrlaarla, yv ov £«X«rdv 
anooKEvacao&ac' nal on Kal rov devrepovofilov vfipig rivag knafaqoav, u nal puorov dia- 
?d>Ga.G&at • Kal Itl 'ApeiavLOfiti, bnep uv tic nal tSiaiug dianpovoaiTO. 'H fievroiye ruv 
rov Ilerpov izpatjetov fiiftlog rti re Xafiirpu Kal ttj ae/j.vurrjTi, Kal en ru m-dapoj Kal ovv- 
tovo), ml i r 7j u?J,ri uper?) rov ?\,6yov, ical irolvnafteia, roaovro kx £L ^pbg rile diarayuc rb 
rcapu/'/Arrov, ug fiTjde avyicpcaei ry Kara rovg Tibyovg irpbg u?.?J/?,ag ■napafiuHeodaL rug 
(3ljj/Mvg. [But the Constitutions seem to be obnoxious only to three charges; — to 
that of being badly constructed, — which it is not difficult to repel ; to that of admitting 
certain injurious remarks respecting the second law, — which it is easy to explain 
away; and, moreover, to that of Arianism, — a charge which any one must use vio- 
lence to thrust aside. Indeed, the book of the Acts of Peter, both in splendor and 
gravity, and further in purity and strength, and in other qualities of good writing, and 
in erudition, has so much that excels the Constitutions, that, in respect to style, the two 
.re not to )>e com pared with each other.] 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 313 

passages of our Constitutions, as we have them at the present time ; and 
thus the most striking proof may be deduced for the opinion which we 
have expressed, that the Constitutions were corrupted after the time of 
Epiphanius. For the passages adduced by him are indeed found in our 
Constitutions, but often very different in the words as well as in the sense. 



Comparison of the Constitutions mentioned by Epiphanius, so far as we 
know them from his testimonies, with the Constitutions which we have. 

There is in Epiphanius a very remarkable passage, which is borrowed 
from the Constitutions as they were in his time, but which stands in full 
contradiction to them as they are at the present time. It commands 
what our Constitutions forbid. 1 The apostles, Epiphanius relates, had, 
in the regulation respecting the celebration of the Passover [Easter] 
given the command not to dispute about it with one another, but to cele- 
brate it when the brethren who were of the circumcision did, and to keep 
the feast in conjunction with them. Now it is ascertained that they who 
of the circumcision embraced Christianity celebrated the Passover at 
the same time with the Jews ; that is, before the vernal equinox. Thus 
the Constitutions of Epiphanius permit the celebration of the Passover 
at the same time with the Jews ; and Epiphanius adds that this decision 
was made by the apostles for the preservation of unity, as they testify, say- 
ing, that ' Even if they [who were Jews] err in their computation, let it 
not give you concern.' But how entirely different the command of our 
Constitutions ! It is exactly the opposite of that which we find handed 



1 Heresy lxx. 10. To 6e prjrbv u<b' ov 2,afj.j3uvovT£g Trepl rov Uctaxcc tcanug Trapep- 

flTJVEVOVGLV OL 7rpO£ip7jfJ.£VOL, KCU tiyVOOVVTEg ETEpug LLKo7iaiJiftaVOVGlV. 'Opl^OVGL jup EV T7J 

avr7j (karu^Et ol 'AttoctoXol, otl vfiEcg [iri ip7]di&7£, u/Jm ttolelte orav ol ad£?i<pol vfitiv ol 

£K 7T EpLTOpLf/g' [MET' CIVTCJV U/J.O, 7TOLELTE. KclL OVK ELTCCLV ' OTOV OL uds/^ol Vfl£)V, OL EV TTEpL- 

to/j.7], aKku ol ek 7TEpL~o t u?/g, tv a 6el^o)OL rovg a-nb Trig irEpLTOfirjg slg ttjv ''E.KKlrjoiav (jleteX- 
d-ovTag, upxvyovg elvol /mt' ekeIvov rbv xpovov • &c. Uapu rolg ' A.7Voar67MLg 61 to prjrbv 

6C OflOVOLCLV EflQEpETaL, d)g Em/J-apTVpOVOL, /JyOVTEg, OTL KUV TE ir?iaV7]d-£)GL, fl7]6s VflLV 

u£?<£tu. [But the persons who have been mentioned interpret erroneously the passage 
from which they quote respecting the Passover; and they distort it through their 
ignorance. For the apostles, in the same Constitution, determine that ye should not 
yourselves compute, but keep it when your brethren do who are of the circumcision : 
keep it with them. And they did not say, When your brethren who are in the cir- 
cumcision, but who are of the circumcision ; that they might exhibit those who had 
come from the circumcision to the church, as leaders after that time, &e. But with the 
apostles the precept is introduced for the sake of concord ; as they testify, saying, that 
even if they err in their computation, let it not give you concern.] 



314 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

down in Epiphanius. Compare b. v. c. 17. The day of the Passover, 
it is there said, must be exactly and carefully celebrated after the vernal 
equinox. The old custom of keeping the feast at the same time with the 
Jews must be observed no more ; for the Christians had no communion 
with them ; but the vernal equinox must be exactly observed. 1 It is 
manifest at once, that this stands completely in contradiction to the Con- 
stitutions which Epiphanius used ; and that they must necessarily have 
been corrupted at a later period, if we hold the book from which he took 
his citations to be the Constitutions which we now have. But, in the 
next place, all the external means of judging must render it in the 
highest degree probable that only the Constitutions which we have can 
be meant ; and, finally, what is the most convincing proof, Epiphanius, 
in other places, gives us, from the Constitutions in question, several cita- 
tions, which are found precisely the same in ours. Thus, for example, 
what is said on Heresy xlv. 5, 2 agrees entirely with the Constitutions, 
b. i. c. 1, at the beginning. 3 And on Heresy lxxx. 7, 4 though the same 
words do not occur, yet something similar is found in the Constitutions, 
b. i. c. 3. 5 Both places zealously oppose unnecessary and luxurious 
ornament, and the cutting of the beard. 

1 Apostolical Constitutions, b. v. c. 17. Aec ovv v/aag, adetyol, rovg ru tov Xpiarov 
TL}ii(x) k^riyopaajxevovg aiiiarL, rag ypiipag tov tzuoxo, anpcfitig TcoisiG&ai, [zera rcaGTjg em- 
{ie?\,eiag, fiera rponrjv larjfLepcvrjv • orrcog pjj dig tov evlclvtov, evbg Tra-&7jp-arog [xveiav not- 
elafte, u?Jm a-nat; tov STOvg tov anal; anod-avovrog ' /j,?]ksti de TTaparqpovfievoL [ietu'Iov- 
daiov eopTa&v • ovdefiia yap notvovla vfilv vvv npog avrovg • irs7r?MV7jVTaL yap nal avT7/v 
T7]V \p?j(j)ov,7]v vofjifrvocv etuteIieIv oTvog navTaxodEV ugl Tre^avT/ftevoi, nal rrjg ahjdeiag 
uTTEcxoiVLC[iEvoL ' vpiElg 6e <pv?MOGEcd r e atcpLj3cJg T7]v laqfiepiov TpoiTTjv Trig hapivfjg copag, 
&c. [Therefore, brethren, ye, who are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, 
ought diligently to celebrate the days of the Passover, with all carefulness, after the 
equinox, that ye keep not the memorial of the one passion twice in a year, but once 
only in a year for him that died but once; no longer indeed scrupulously caring to 
celebrate the feast with the Jews ; for with them Ave now have no fellowship. For 
they are deceived in respect to the computation itself, which they think to carry into 
effect; as on every side they are deceived, and are separated from the truth. But do 
ye regard attentively the vernal equinox.] 

2 'AX?m teal ol uttoot6?u)l tyactv ev r?) diara^ei t?j Ka7i.ovp.EV7j, on (pvTEia -&eov nal apnrE- 
2-uv i) na-&o?dK7} kKulrjoia. [But also the apostles, in what is called the Constitution, 
say that the catholic church is the plantation and vineyard of God.] 

3 Qeov (pvTEta ?) Ka$o7dK7] EKKXrjaia nal dp7VE?idv ai)Tov knlEtcTog. [The catholic church 
is the plantation of God and his beloved vineyard.] 

4 Kal ntpl (j.hv ovv tov yeveiov ev Ta/.g 5letu,^egl tcjv aTcoaro?MV (jtaGKEt, 6 {relog ?i6yog 
nal ?/ 6i6acKa?ua p.?) (p&EipEiv, tovt' egtl fi?) te^velv Tpixag yEvsiov. pridl eraipiafKj nara- 
Koa/x£tG-&at. — [And indeed concerning the chin, therefore, the divine word and teach- 
ing in the Constitutions of the Apostles, says : Do not mar, that is, do not cut, the 
hair of the chin, nor use meretricious ornament.] 

5 Ova e^egti gol Tp£(j)ELv Tag Tpixag Trig Kefahqg nal ttoielv slg ev, 6 egtl GiraTuXtov • t) 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 315 

On Heresy lxxv. 6, Epiphanius mentions the Constitution of the 
Apostles concerning the fasts on the fourth and sixth days of the week, 
and respecting the eating of dry food in the great week. 1 These pre- 
scriptions we find very fully expressed also in several places of our 
Constitutions. 2 

The agreement of all these places clearly proves that Epiphanius has 
cited from our Constitutions, although after his time these have been 
subjected to many a change and interpolation. 



anoxvfta, rj /j.E/xepio/i,EV7jv njpelv ovSe (iev bytcorcoielv, rj dtatjaivovra te ml irlacoovTa 

ovkqv diaTt&etv, r) ^avSoTtoiuv avrrjv Xp^ 6e ov6e yEVEiov rpixa diaQdripELV, ml 

ttjv fj,opd)7}v tov av&p^ov napa (pvcuv E^aXkdooEiv. Ovk dnofiadapuaETE yap, tyrjciv 6 
vdfiog, Tovg irtjyuvac vfiuv. [It is not lawful for thee to nourish the hair of the head, 
and to hring it together so as to form a tuft, nor to keep it spread out or divided, nor 
to make it puff up, or by combing and platting dispose it to curl, nor to make it 

yellow Nor is it right to destroy the hair of the chin, and change unnaturally 

the form of a man. For, saith the law, Ye shall not shave off your beards.] 

1 ~El Se ml XPV to rrjg dcard^Eug tuv arcocToTiuv Tisysiv, ntig ekel upifrvro TEtpada ml 
npooa,j3(3arov vrjOTEiav diet, 7ravrdc, #wp£C 7T£VT£KOGT7Jg' ml iTEpl rtiv e£ TjfiEpuv tov 
liaexa, ntig TtapayyilTiovat fiydlv blug "kafi^aveiv^ rj uprov ml aKog ml vdarog, noiav re 
ijfj.Epav ayEiv, nug re utcoIvelv dg EnKpuaaovaav Kvpcaar/v, Qavspov ban. And below : 
~Eilra 61 e'l htj nspl rrjg avTrjg vnod-EGEug TErpadov ml 7vpocafi(3aTQv ol avrol uttooto'Xoc 
ev rrj dtaTa&L Efayov, ml aXkug ek Travraxo&EV dxofiEV arcodeitjai' ofiug TCEpl rovro 
a/cpi/3wc ypa(j)ovci. [But if it be right to mention a passage in the Constitution of the 
Apostles, how they there determined the fast on the fourth and the sixth day of the week 
always, except Pentecost ; and concerning the six days of the Passover, how they 
command to take nothing at all but bread, and salt, and water, what day to celebrate, 

and how to dismiss at the dawning of the Lord's day, is manifest But then if 

the same apostles, in the Constitution, had not spoken concerning the same subject of 
the fourth and sixth-day fasts, we had been able from every side in other ways to prove 
the point ; nevertheless concerning this they write diligently.] 

2 See book v. chap. 15: He therefore himself charged us to fast these six days, 
on account of the impiety and transgression of the Jews. But he commanded us to 
fast on the fourth and the sixth day of the week ; the former on account of his being 
betrayed, and the latter on account of his passion. But he commanded that we break 
our fast on the seventh day, at the cock-crowing, but to fast during the Sabbath itself. 
Chap. 18: Do ye therefore fast on the days of the Passover, beginning from the 
second day of the week until the Preparation and the Sabbath, six days ; making use 
of only bread, and salt, and herbs, and water for your drink. But abstain from 
wine and flesh on these days ; for they are days of lamentation, and not of feasting. 
Do ye who are able fast the day of the Preparation and the Sabbath entirely, tasting 
nothing till the cock-crowing of the night. Chap. 19: Wherefore we exhort you 
to fast on those days till the evening, as we also fasted Avhen he was taken away from 
us. But on the rest of the days, before the day of the Preparation, let every one eat at 
the ninth hour, or at the evening, or as every one is able. But on the Sabbath, extend- 
ing the fast till the cock-crowing, discontinue it at the dawn of the first day of the 
week, which is the Lord's day, keeping awake from evening till the cock-crowing. 



316 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

If we pursue the comparison further, we find in Epiphanius (Heresy 
lxx. 10) a precept quoted from the Constitutions, which we do not 
find in ours. There it is prescribed that the Christians keep a vigil in 
the midst of the time of unleavened bread. 1 On the contrary, our Con- 
stitutions (b. v. c. 19) appoint only that the vigil be held on the great 
Sabbath, from evening till cock-crowing. 

The citation, too, which Epiphanius (Heresy lxx. 11 2 ) adduces 
from his Constitutions, we attempt in vain to find in ours ; and when he 
there adduces as a decision of the apostles, He that afflicteth his own soul 
on the Lord's day is accursed of God, 3 we cannot sufficiently wonder 
how Epiphanius could regard this decision (which we besides have not 
in our printed Constitutions) as coming from the apostles, since nothing 
is more contrary to the spirit of their doctrine, than that they from whom 
the annulling of all [such] external statutes proceeded, should have 
again instituted so external a command, and have decided in a manner so 
harsh and unlovely. The precept which Epiphanius cites (on Heresy 
lxx. 12 4 ) is found for the most part in various chapters (13, 15, 18, 
19) of the fifth book of our Constitutions. 

If we look back upon the comparison through which we have gone, the 
unavoidable result seems to be, that the work which Epiphanius quotes 
is, for the most part, identical with our Constitutions ; that the identity 
of the two, in view of the places which agree, cannot be denied ; but that, 
on the other hand, this work after his time suffered interpolations and 
corruptions, which we can, with great probability, place in the period 



1 'E£ avTuv 6e ruv ekeIge Eipr/fXEvuv prjruv 7) avrifirjoLg oty&rjGETai, tyactcovoi yup ttjv 
uypvnvlav fepeiv, jiEGa^ovruv tuv atyfiuv. Ov dvvarai 6e rovro irdvTore yevea-&ai ev 
Ty ipT/tyy rrj eKKXijataarLKy. [But from what is there said (in the Apostolical Constitu- 
tions), the opposite will appear. For they (the Audians) say that we must enter upon 
the vigil in the midst of the time of unleavened bread. Yet, according to the ecclesi- 
astical reckoning, this cannot always he done.] 

2 Myovoi yup ol avrol uttogtoXoi, ore brav ekelvol evQX^ VTaL i vfieic vrjorEvovrEg vnep 
avTuv kev&eIte, on hv ry rjfiEpa rrjg koprrjg tov XpcGTbv eoravpucav not brav ai)TOi 
irev&tioi, tu u&fia eaMovreg hv mitpioi, v/xelg evux^g^-e. [For the same apostles say, 
When they (the Jews) are feasting, do ye fast, and lament over them; for on the day 
of the feast they crucified Christ ; and when they are lamenting, and eating the 
unleavened bread with bitter herbs, do ye feast.] 

3 Avd-ig avTuv anovovreg hv rrj Siara^ei, otl 6 mnuv havTov T7/v ipvxv v ev KvpcaKy, 
cTnuaTupaTog eon r£> #e<p. [Again hearing them (the apostles) in the Constitution : 
He that afflicteth his own soul on the Lord's day is accursed of God.] 

4 IlapaT7]peiTac 6e rj EKKArjcia aysiv ttjv hoprr/v tov Haax a , r0VT ' £° rl T V V h{3<fofjuda 
77/v upia/iivrjv nal an' avrCov tcov utcootoKuv ev ttj dtaru^et, utto devrhpag cafilSuTuv, 
bnep egtlv ayopacjfj.bg rob rcpoftdrov. [But the church observes to keep the feast of the 
Passover, that is, the seven days prescribed also by the same apostles in the Constitu- 
tion, from the second day of the week, when the lamb is purchased.] 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 317 

which elapsed between him and the Trullan Council, without being able 
to discover how far these interpolations and corruptions extend, or to 
conclude, with certainty, how extensive the Constitutions were which he 
used. 



Concerning the Testimony of the Incomplete Work on Matthew, published 
among the writings of Chrysostom. 

In the notes of an unknown writer on Matthew, 1 an explanation of 
the third verse of the sixth chapter is introduced ; which, according to 
his statement, should be found in our Constitutions. 2 For although it 
might be doubted whether, by the phrase, in the booh of canons, our 
'Constitutions were intended ; yet, on account of the additional words, 
which is concerning bishops, we cannot but refer this description to our 
Constitutions. Those additional words clearly show also that the canons 
of the apostles can by no means be meant ; since the canons do not treat 

1 These notes, known under the name of The Incomplete Work on Matthew, are 
given in fifty-four Homilies, although they are no Homilies, hut rather a continuous 
commentary. The work was generally attributed to Chrysostom ; and hence it is 
found in the editions of his works. [See torn. vi. p. 731-980. as printed at Paris, 1836.] 
Still its spuriousness is generally acknowledged, and it must not be confounded with 
the genuine commentary of Chrysostom on Matthew. It is very favorably judged by 
Erasmus (in an edition of Chrysostom, at Bale, 1530, t. iii. p. 473) : — 'In the first 
place, there is no doubt that this work is not Chrysostom's ; but since it has hitherto 
been frequently printed under his name, we have been unwilling to omit it, especially as 
it is the production of a learned and eloquent man, who is so well acquainted with the 
Holy Scriptures, that, in my judgment, he is not, in this respect, inferior to Chrysos- 
tom.' Most probably, the work belongs to the age of Chrysostom ; or it appeared only 
a little later. Certainly, it does not belong to the sixth or seventh century, as some 
have supposed. Against this are, among others, many passages in the 10th, 13th, 
20th, and 26th Homilies, from which it is evident that the heathen religion at that time 
still had many adherents. It is remarkable, also, that this 'Incomplete Work' is 
reproached with Arianism. 

2 Aliter certe, sicut apostoli interpretantur in libro canonum, qui est de episcopis: 
Dextra est populus Christianus, qui est ad dextram Christi ; sinistra autem omnis pop- 
ulus, qui est ad sinistram. Hoc ergo dicit : Ne Christianum facientem eleemosynam, 
qui est dextra, infidelis aspiciat, qui est sinistra. Christianus autem si Christianum 
viderit eleemosynas facientem, non est contra Christi prseceptum, quoniam ambo dex- 
tra sunt. [In another way, certainly, as the apostles interpret in the book of canons 
which is concerning bishops : The right hand is the Christian people, that are at the 
right hand of Christ ; but the left hand is all the people that are at his left. This 
therefore he says : Let no unbeliever, who is the left hand, see a Christian, who is the 
right hand, doing an alms. But if a Christian see a Christian doing an alms, it is not 
against the precept of Christ ; since both are the right hand.] 



318 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

on any one single subject. Their form and contents, too, make it impos- 
sible that such a citation from Matthew, with this interpretation, should 
occur in them ; and, accordingly, we find in them no trace of it at the 
present time. If, then, we would not assume that there was a distinct 
work entitled, The Booh of the Canons concerning Bishops, of which, 
however, there is not preserved to us the slightest account or indication 
from the ancient authors, we must refer the description to our Constitu- 
tions ; and for doing this there are very weighty reasons. In our Con- 
stitutions, the second book treats principally of Bishops, and hence we can 
well conjecture that the unknown author of the commentary had in mind 
this book of our Constitutions. But what incontestably proves that our 
Constitutions are intended and cited, is, that, in all probability, one of his 
citations is found to be indicated in our present Constitutions ; and from 
his there using the expression, in the eighth book of the canons of the 
apostles, it is manifest that also in the other citation described as being 
in the book of canons, our Constitutions are meant. 

In regard to the first citation from our Constitutions that is found in 
this writer, at Matt. 6 : 3, we seek entirely in vain, throughout the whole 
second book of our Constitutions, for the interpretation of the pas- 
sage, as he presents it to us. Elsewhere, too, there is no indication at 
all of such an explanation. This is the more remarkable, since we 
might suppose it altogether certain that we should find it in b. iii. 
c. 14 of the Constitutions. There, in the prescription respecting 
the manner of doing good, the passage, Matt. 6 : 3, is adduced ; and 
there, consequently, the explanation might well be expected. 1 Since, 
now, the citation is found no where else in our Constitutions, we may 
assume with certainty that, as the Constitutions of Epiphanius have suf- 
fered later additions and corruptions ; so, after the time of the unknown 
author of the commentary on Matthew, the Constitutions must have suf- 
fered many a change by omission. Thus, in all probability, that pas- 
sage on Matt. 6 : 3 is omitted in the Constitutions, by later transcribers, 
just because it displeased them. 

In regard to the second citation of the same writer on Matt. 25 : 18, 
some might hesitate to admit that this is found in our Constitutions. In 



1 'H y,iv rot ev tzoiovgo,, uiroKpvijjaTO rb oinelov bvofia wc Go6?r fxr) aakm^ovaa efnrpo- 
o&ev avT/jc;- lv a yevrjTai t) eler/ftocvvr/ npbc rbv debv ev npvirrCr Kadug <f>i]Giv 6 Kvpiog- 
on gov be iroLouvToq i?\.er/fioGVV7]v, iat] yvuTO ■/) apiGrepa gov, ri irotel t] be^id gov, birog if 
7] klcrjfioGvvrj kv to KpvTvru. [But let her that doeth a kindness conceal her own 
name, as a wise person, not sounding a trumpet before her, that her alms may be with 
God in secret; as the Lord saith, When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know 
what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret.] 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 319 

the citation it is said, in a general way, that he who does not execute his 
office well is ordained, not of God, but of men ; that before God he does 
not, properly speaking, hold his office at all. 1 Now, it is true, in the 
passage of the Constitutions from which this is probably quoted (b. viii. 
c. 2 2 ), not entirely the same statement is found; at least, it is not 
expressed in the same words ; but the sense of the passage agrees 
entirely with the citation adduced. Here also it is said, that a bad 
bishop bears a false name ; that he is called, not of God, but of men ; 
and then some pertinent examples are presented. 

After the comparison which we have instituted, we may well view it as 
certain, that, if that unknown writer has not formally cited b. viii. 
c. 2, he has at least had in mind this place of the Constitutions, and 
intended to refer to it. This assumption will not be without importance 
in our subsequent discussion ; since thereby, in the investigation 
respecting the origin and the age of the eighth book of our Constitutions, 
we gain a firm historical point for the existence of that book. 



On the Testimony of Maximus. 3 

The apostle Paul is here named as the one who ordained Dionysius 
bishop of the Athenian church, as it stands written in the holy Constitu- 
tions. The passage in the Constitutions to which this testimony refers, 



1 Qui ministerium suum bene consummaverit, apparet quia ex Deo fuerat ordinatus : 
qui autem ministerium suum non bene consummaverit, ex hominibus ordinatus est. 
Quomodo autem quidam sacerdotes ex hominibus ordinautur, mamfeste in libro octavo 
Canonum Apostolorum dicitur. Qui autem ex hominibus ordinatus est, quantum ad 
Deum non est diaconus aut sacerdos. — [He who shall have performed his ministry 
well is proved to have been ordained of God ; but he who shall have performed his 
ministry not well has been ordained of men. In what manner certain priests are 
ordained of men is manifestly stated in the eighth book of the Canons of the Apostles. 
But he who has been ordained of men is not, in respect to God, a deacon or a priest.] 

2 Ovre de ftaoi?,evg dvaot(3fjg, etl (SaatTiEvg vnupXEC, uXka rvpavvog- ovre ETcicKOirog 
iiyvoia f] Kanovoia Tremeo/xivoc; krdcKOixoq egtiv, uX?m ipEvduvvfiog, ov irapu &eov, uXXa 
Ttapa uv&pC)TiUv npop/^d scg. [Nor is an impious king any longer a king, but a 
tyrant ; nor is a bishop that is impelled by ignorance or an evil disposition a bishop, 
but is falsely so called, having been sent forth, not of God. but of men.] 

3 [This very learned abbot, who was so much distinguished for his zeal and suffer- 
ings in opposing the Monotbelites, about the middle of the seventh century, and who 
died in prison A.D. 662, says,] in his preface to the works of Dionysius the Areop- 
agite : KadicTarat Kara, rb <j>Ep6jLCEVov kv ifSdo/xo) j3cj3?ug) tojv uttogtoTiCkcjv StaTayfiurcov 
6 Aiovvoiog ettiokottoc vrrb TiavAov rov Xpiorotyopov r&v kv 'A^7jv7]gc tugtevcuvtov. [Ac- 
cording to the statement in the seventh book of the Apostolical Constitutions, Diony- 



320 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

is b. viii. c. 46. 1 Here, it is true, it is not expressly said that Paul 
ordained Dionysius at Athens ; for it is not absolutely necessary to con- 
nect the words, But by Paul, with the words, Dionysius in Athens ; but 
the latter can be referred to any one of the apostles. At the same time, 
there is nothing against this assumption that Paul ordained Dionysius at 
Athens ; and the words, as they stand in our Constitutions, afford a prob- 
ability in its favor. For our investigation, in general, we gain nothing 
from the testimony of Maximus, except this : we perceive from it that in 
his time the Constitutions were used. The circumstance that the Con- 
stitutions are here named in full, — in the holy Constitutions of the Apos- 
tles, — gives to this testimony some value, since it proves that also, at this 
time, the name of Clement was not mentioned in connection with the Con- 
stitutions ; and that consequently, among all the historical testimonies, 
the second Trullan canon first mentions him in that connection. 



On the Testimony of Timotheus the Presbyter} 

The passage of our Constitutions adduced by Timotheus the Presbyter, 
seems to be found in b. vi. c. 16. The citation of it has some impor- 
tance, since they who have asserted that the Constitutions were com- 
posed of various ' teachings ' (didixoxalLcu), and were only a collection of 
ecclesiastical laws, partly old and partly new, which had been established 
in the apostolical churches, have brought it forward in favor of' their 
opinion. 3 They say that Timotheus indicates this, since he men- 
tions them not as words of the apostles, but of apostolical men : Bear the 
apostolical (ocxoue tw^ bnoaTofaxm'), — where, it is urged, the word to 
be supplied is men (ar^fij'). Even if this now were really so, it could 



sius was ordained Bishop of the believers at Athens by Paul, the bearer of Christ.] 
— And on the eighth epistle of Dionysius, § 5 : 'lepo&STijv de nakel rbv uyiov utxooto- 
Xov HavTiov, d>c x £l P 0T0V V GavTa avr& ttjv upxi£po)ovv7jv ttjq kKKlrjaiag tuv 'A-&7jvcjv, 
nadtig ev rdXq iepalg t&v ukootoXuv yeypairrai diarayalg. [Moreover, he calls the holy 
apostle Paul a sacred institutor, as having appointed for him the high- priesthood of 
the church of Athens, as it is written in the holy Constitutions of the Apostles.] 

1 'T7rd de UavTiov Kovkloq Keyxpeuv (scil. KexupoTovrjTai) aal rfjg Kpt/T^g Ttrof 
Aiovvacog ds kv Adyvaig, &c. [But by Paul, Lucius was ordained bishop of Cenchrea; 
Titus, of Crete ; Dionysius, in Athens ; &c] 

2 Tractatus de iis qui accedunt ad Ecclesiam, in Auctuario Bibliothecae Patram 
Combcfisiano, torn. ii. p. 453, D : "A/cove t&v anoarolcKcJv &c. Treatise concerning 
those who come over to the Church, in Combefis' Augmentation of the Library of 
the Fathers, &c. 

3 So, among others, J. A. Starck, in his Gcschichte der christlichcn Kirche des 
ersten Jahrhundcrts, History of the Christian Church in the First. Century, vol. ii. p. 513. 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 321 

never prove that the Constitutions were nothing more than a collection 
of apostolical traditions (pmoviolixal naqad^asig). But such an inter- 
pretation of the testimony of Timotheus is arbitrary ; for we cannot con- 
ceive why commands (diurayixaiMv^ or words (grj^anov), could not as 
well be supplied after apostolical (txnoo-wlixtiv) , There is also no 
ground for the assumption that b. vi. c. 1 6, is the beginning of such a 
teaching (did a ay. all a). In our present Constitutions, the beginning of 
the passage adduced is, ' All these things we have sent to you ' ( Tavin 
n&vza iTtEoxeZlauev fy/Z>) ; and is nothing more than a turn in the dis- 
course, which is often found in our Constitutions. 



On the Testimony of Nicetas Pectoratus, and of Cardinal Humhert. 

Both of these men, it is well known, standing opposed to each other, 
took part in those contentions between the Greek church and the Latin, 
in consequence of which the entire separation of the two churches ensued. 
A series of variances had, long before, destroyed their harmony ; and the 
jealousy between the episcopal thrones at Rome and Constantinople 
showed itself continually, in a manner more and more undisguised ; and 
an open separation and a renouncing of one another would already have 
been made, had not the interest of the Greek emperors, in particular, 
required them to spare the Pope, and to prevent the full outbreak of an 
entire separation. But this was only a very external tie, from which a 
riddance had for a long time been desired. Since the time when Pho- 
tius, by his circular to the oriental patriarchs, 1 had called the council at 
Constantinople (A.D. 867), and had assailed the orthodoxy of the Latin 
church with bitter reproaches, the mutual hatred became constantly more 
deeply rooted, and there was no hope of a cordial reconciliation. The 
long series of contests in which Photius was engaged, only increased the 
hatred ; and, especially, the Greeks doubted more and more the ortho- 
doxy of the Romish church. Then, in 1053, Michael Cerularius, patri- 
arch of Constantinople, came forth with a letter addressed to John, 
bishop of Trani, in Apulia, in which he enumerated, and endeavored to 
refute, the errors of the Latin church. 2 A few months later, Nicetas 
Pectoratus came forth with his work against the Romanists, in which he 



1 Latin, in Baronius, ann. 863. No. 34, ss.; Greek, in edit. Montacutii, Ep. ii 
p. 47, ss. 

2 This letter is still extant, only according to Humbert's Latin translation, in Baro- 
nius ad ann. 1053, No. 22, and Canisii Lect. Ant. ed. Basnage. torn. iii. P. i. p. 281. 

21 



322 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

opposed the errors of the Latin church concerning unleavened bread, con- 
cerning the Sabbath, and concerning the marriage of priests. 1 Cardinal 
Humbert, who was sent to Constantinople by Leo IX. on account of 
these contests, refuted, in a style of much severity, the opposers of the 
Latin church ; and, with the help of the emperor, Constantine Mono- 
machus, he humbled Nicetas Pectoratus, who was obliged to anathe- 
matize his own work. 

Nicetas zealously opposes fasting on the Sabbath ; and, to prove what 
he asserts, he appeals to our Constitutions. There it is expressly said, 
that we should not fast on the Sabbath, except on the one corresponding 
to that during which Christ was under the earth. He adduces several 
passages where the same thing, in a similar manner, is commanded. 2 

But Humbert rejected this proof, expressly because it was derived 
from apocryphal books. 3 Now although Humbert does not explicitly 



1 Nicetse Presb. et Monaclii Monasterii Studii Liber contra Latinos. 

2 Liber contra Latinos, tomo sexto Antiqnce Lectionis Henr. Canisii, et in Bibliotheca 
Patrum, torn. 4, part. 2, p. 235, 236 ; and in Baronius, Ann. torn. ii. in the Appendix. — 
Apostolorum vertices, in quinto quidem libro Ordinationum, qui de Martyribus inscri- 
bitur juxta Clemen tem : Quartam feriam et sextain prsecepit nobis jejunare Domi- 
nus : imam quidem, propter traditionem, alteram propter passionem : ipsum autem 
Sabbatum non tradidit nobis jejunare, quoniam non oportet, prseter illud solum, in 
quo Creator omnium sub terra fuit. Unde juxta calcem ejusdem libri, iterum sic 
loquitur : Omne quidem Sabbatum et omnem Dominicum celebrandum esse dicimus, 
Gaudere enim oportet in his et non lugere. Septimo quidem libro earum Constitu- 
tionum juxta vicesimum quartum caput, hoc inquiunt ; Sabbatum namque et Domini- 
cum cclebramus, quia illud quidem divinse operationis est memoria, hie vero resmTec- 
tionis, Unum vero tantum Sabbatum custodiendum est in toto anno, sepulture Dom- 
ini, quo jejunare oportet. Quando enim Christus in sepulchro jacuit, discipuli poten- 
tiorem, circa eum, fietum habebant, quam gaudium ex memoria divina) operationis. 
&c. [The chiefs of the apostles say, in the fifth book of the Decrees, which is inscribed 
concerning Martyrs, according to Clement : The Lord commanded us to fast the 
fourth and the sixth day of the week (Wednesday and Friday) ; the former on 
account of his being betrayed ; the latter, on account of his suffering. But he did not 
tell us to fast on the Sabbath itself, because it is not suitable, except that Sabbath only 
on which the Creator of all was under the earth. Hence, at the end of the same book, 
it thus states again : We say that every Sabbath indeed and every Lord's day ought to 
be joyously celebrated. For it is suitable to rejoice on these days, and not to mourn. 
In the seventh book of those Constitutions, at the twenty-fourth chapter, they speak 
thus : We celebrate joyously the Sabbath and the Lord's day, because that is the 
memorial of the creation ; but tins, of the resurrection. Only one Sabbath, however, 
in the whole year is to be kept (as a fast), that of the burial of the Lord, on which it is 
suitable to fast. For when Christ lay in the sepulchre, the mourning of the disciples 
for him exceeded their joy at the remembrance of the creation, &c] 

3 Ilumbertus Episcopus Sylvoc Candidas, in Ive^ponsionc ad Nicetse librum, torn. iv. 
Bibl. Patr. part. 2, p. 243 ; and in Append, torn. ii. aim. Bar. Reprehcndens enim nos, 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 323 

name the Apostolical Constitutions, — and, indeed, would understand the 
book of Clement to be the Itinerary of Peter, — yet there can hardly be 
any doubt that the Itinerary of Peter is our Constitutions. Nicetas 
never introduces a passage from the so-called Itinerary of Peter, but 
only from the Apostolical Constitutions and the apostolical canons. The 
passages, too, quoted by Nicetas are found in our Constitutions, almost 
entirely with the same words. See b. v. c. 15 ; b. v. c. 20 ; and b. vii. c. 23. 

Humbert, therefore, since he would refute these passages by his reply 
that they are from apocryphal writings, can only have had in mind the 
Constitutions, from which just these passages were borrowed. Ittig 1 
thinks that Humbert here speaks, not of the Constitutions, but of the 
Recognitions ; yet, at most, there could be here only an accidental ex- 
change ; for the passages quoted by Nicetas were manifestly taken from 
the Constitutions. 

Daille 2 and others think that Humbert also understood the decree of 
Gelasius [who was bishop of Rome from A.D. 492 to 496], as having 
reference, not to the Recognitions, but to the Constitutions. .This 
decree, too, seems really to have referred to the Constitutions ; at 
least the number of the books in the work which it mentions, 8 favors 
this assumption. For in one of its canons it is said, Also the Itine- 
rary under the name of the apostle Peter, which is called the eight 
books of Clement, is apocryphal. 4 It must be admitted that the decree 
is very uncertain, and that its readings are often doubted and contested. 



cur jejunemus Sabbatis, dicis : ' Quarta et sexta feria jugiter jejunandurn ; una propter 
traditionem, altera propter passionem Domini ; Sabbato autem nunquam nisi uno.' 
Et hoc asserere conaris ex apocryphis libris et canonibus, pari sententia sanctorum 
patrum repudiatis. Nam dementis liber, id est, Itinerarium Petri Apostoli et Canones 
Apostolorum numerantur inter Apocrypha, exceptis capitulis quinquaginta, quse de- 
creverunt regulis orthodoxis adjungenda. Unde nos quoque omne Apocryphon abji- 
cientes, dedignantur audire eorum fabulosas traditiones, quia non sunt ut lex Domini. 
[For, reproaching us because we fast on the Sabbath, you say : ' Upon the fourth and the 
sixth day of the week we should always fast ; — the one on account of our Lord's being 
betrayed ; the other, on account of his suffering ; but never upon a Sabbath, except 
one.' And this you endeavor to assert from apocryphal books and canons repudiated by 
the just sentence of the holy fathers. For the book of Clement, that is, the Itinerary 
of the apostle Peter and the canons of the apostles are numbered among the apocry- 
phal writings, except the fifty sections which they have decreed to be adjoined to the 
orthodox regulations. Whence Ave also, rejecting every apocryphal work, disdain to 
hear fabulous traditions, because they are not as the law of the Lord.] 

1 Dissert, de Pseudepigraphis, &c. cap. xii. p. 197. 

2 In the work already cited, lib. i. c. i. p. 16. 

3 Syn. Rom. i. sub. Gelas. Notitia Libror. Apos. torn. hi. cone. p. 662, col. 2, E. 

4 Item Itinerarium nomine Petri apostoli, quod appellatur S. Clementis libri Octo, 
apocryphum. 



324 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Could the decree only be relied upon, we should have already, in the 
fifth century, a very important and interesting testimony concerning our 
Constitutions, that they were even then generally rejected in the Romish 
church. But since various opinions are advanced, as well respecting 
this decree as respecting this council itself; — since the very existence 
of this council is denied, and at least it remains uncertain whether 
Gelasius published such a decree, we exclude this decree from the his- 
torical external testimonies respecting the Constitutions. 

Nicetas opposed also several other peculiarities of the Latins. He 
directed his attack particularly against their view of the marriage of the 
priests, and for proof availed himself here also of the Constitutions. 
The Bishop, Presbyter, and Deacon, who have been once married, are 
to be ordained, whether their wives are now living or dead. 1 The pas- 
sage is found also in our Constitutions, almost with the same words, 
b. vi. c. 17. Nicetas quotes another passage of the Constitutions, 2 which 
is found also in ours ; — only he erroneously mentions b. vii. c. 16, in- 
stead of b. vi. c. 16. 

From the testimonies of Nicetas and of Humbert, we have gained 
much. We perceive that, although the Greek church still continued to 



1 In sexto libro Clementis ordinationum, quse ab co conscripts sunt, juxta septi- 
mnm decimum caput, apostoli hsec dicunt : Episcopura et Presbyterum et Diaconum, 
dicimus, qui unam habent uxorem, ordinari, quamvis vivant eorum conjuges, quamvis 
defunctse : non licet eos post manus impositionem innuptos esse, nee insuper ad nup- 
tias ire ; aut si nupserint alteras amplecti, sed sufficere, quas babent, cum ad ordinatio- 
nem venerunt. [In the sixth book of Clement's Decrees (i.e.) which have been writ- 
ten by him, at the seventeenth chapter, the apostles say thus : We command that a 
Bishop, and Presbyter, and Deacon, who have one wife, be ordained, whether their 
wives be living, or be deceased : it is not lawful that they, after the imposition of hands, 
become unmarried, nor become married; or if they may have previously married (it is 
not lawful) that they ever become united to others, but let those suffice whom they 
may have had when they came to ordination.] 

2 Reliqui autem verticum in septimo libro Institutionum, juxta sextum decimum 
caput liquidius dixerunt : Scimus enim. in quit, quia hie qui circa Simonem et Clco- 
bium et Judam conscripserunt libros in nomine Christi et discipulorum ejus, circum- 
ferunt ad seductionem vestram et corum qui diligunt Christum et nos servos ipsius. 
Et in veteribus quidem conscripserunt libros apocryphos Moysi et Enoch et Adam, 
Esaiaa et David et Helise et trium patriarcharum, corruptiones facientes atque veritatis 
inimicos libros. [But the rest of the chiefs, in the seventh book of the Institutions, at 
the sixteenth chapter, have more clearly said : For we know, it says, that here Simon, 
and Cleobius, and Jude, and their followers, have composed books in the name of 
Christ and his disciples, and carry them about to seduce you and those who love 
Christ, and us his servants. And indeed among the ancients they have composed 
apocryphal books of Moses, and Enoch, and Adam, of Isaiah, and David, and Elias, 
and of the three patriarchs, making corruptions and books hostile to the truth.] 



EXTEKNAL TESTIMONIES. 325 

esteem our Constitutions highly, the Latin church rejected them as 
apocryphal. In the next place, the citations of Nicetas, which are all 
contained in our present Constitutions, give us assurance for the integrity 
of the Constitutions after the time of Photius. At least, it is highly 
probable that, after his time, they received no more interpolations. 



On the Testimony of later Authors. 

Some later Byzantine historians have mentioned the Constitutions ; 
yet, from their testimonies, nothing can be gained that will be of impor- 
tance in our investigation. George Cedrenus 1 quotes a passage which 
is found in our Constitutions, b. vi. c. 7, 8, 9. Several other citations 
coincide with b. vi. c. 22 ; b. v. c. 12 ; b. ii. c. 5, 37, 42, &c. 2 

The testimony of John Zonaras we have already adduced (see p. 307). 
It favors the opinion that the Instruction of the Apostles (dtda/rj t&v 
&no(jT6lt»v) is one and the same work with our Constitutions. Zonaras 
further confirms the statement that the Constitutions were corrupted by 
heretics, and afterwards rejected by the Trullan Council. 3 This, too, is 
the substance of the other testimonies, — that of Alexius Aristinus, 4 that 
of Theodore Balsamon, 5 and that of Matthew Blastares. 6 The last- 
mentioned author, in several passages, inculcates very strongly that,, 
although the canons of the apostles were confirmed by the sixth council, 



1 In his Compendium .Historiaram, ed. Xylandri, p. 173, lin. 52. Editionis Regise 
torn. i. p. 211, A. 

2 The same. Edit. Basil, p. 195 ; and Reg. torn. i. p. 237, D, and p. 238 ; and Reg. 
torn. i. p. 289, B. 

3 Ad canonem Apostolorum sexagesimum. Uoa?m (3tj3Aia napa rdv aoefluv ho- 
■Sev&rioav elg (3?mj3?)v itiv aTtAovarepuv tioTrep nal at 6ta tov ayiov KXr/fievrog ypatyelaat 
rotg kiTLGKOnOic a7TOOTO?unal dtarayal, at 6ta tovto Kat cvvodiKug ai:epAri$T]Gav. [Many 
books have been adulterated by the impious to the injury of the more simple ; as also 
the Apostolical Institutes, written by the holy Clement to the Bishops, which on this 
account have been rejected even by the authority of a council.] 

4 In his Synopsis Canonum, ex Trullana Constantinopolitana S) r nodo, num. 7. Bib- 
lioth. Juris Canonici Veteris, torn. ii. p. 698, ex ejusdem Scriptoris MSS. Scholiis, ad 
Canonem Apostolorum ultimum, in Usher's Dissert, de Ignatio, c. 1 5. 

5 Ad canonem Apostolorum ultimum. 

6 In the beginning of his Collectio Canonum, per titulos, ordine alphabetico, where 
he treats De Canonibus Apostolorum, litt. /?, c. 11; de Canone Apostolorum Sexa- 
gesimo, litt. k, c. 5; and de Canone Trullano Secundo. — Constantinus Harmenopulus, 
too, in Epitome Canonum, sect. 2, lit. 4, torn. i. Juris Grseco-Romani, adduces a pas- 
sage which occurs in our Constitutions, b. viii. c. 28. 



326 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

and their validity and their credit established, yet the same council, on 
the other hand, rejected the Constitutions, since they were interpolated 
by heretics, and consequently contained much that is false and heterodox. 



On the Testimony of the last Apostolical Canon, and on the relation of 
the Apostolical Canons to the Apostolical Constitutions. 

We have assigned to this investigation respecting the last apostolical 
canon, the last place in our discussion of the testimonies of the ancients, 
because the age of the apostolical canons is uncertain, and the investi- 
gations hitherto made have led to no generally received result ; and be- 
cause we wish, independently of the testimony of the last apostolical 
canon, to bring under a nearer view and to regard the relation of all the 
apostolical canons to our Constitutions. Here, indeed, it cannot be our 
object to institute a comprehensive investigation respecting all the 
canons; for this lies too far from our task, and would require a more 
extended treatment than is here possible. Yet, in going over the opin- 
ions of others, we cannot but establish, in general, a result respecting the 
age when the canons were prepared, partly that we may be satisfied 
respecting their relation to the last canon, and partly that we may obtain 
a connecting point for the comparison between the canons and the Con- 
stitutions. 

Respecting the number of the canons, there have not only been vari- 
ous opinions, from the most ancient times, but the number which has 
been received in the eastern church has been different from that which, 
has been received in the western. Among the Greeks, John, a presby- 
ter at Antioch, received all the eighty-five canons into his collection of 
canonical writings, and into his Nomocanon. To the same number they 
were approved by the Trullan Council ; and John of Damascus (on 
the Orthodox Faith, b. iv. c. 28) received them into the catalogue of the 
sacred writings. Several other councils followed in acknowledging 
the canons, as if they were derived from the apostles ; and among the 
Greeks there was generally very little doubt of their apostolical origin. 
The Greeks have been agreed also respecting the extent of the canons ; 
but they have not all divided them in the same manner. Some make 
them seventy-six ; others, seventy-seven ; and others, eighty, eighty -four, 
and eighty-five. But about the five hundredth year of the Christian era, 
Dionysius Exiguus, the first who introduced the using of this era, trans- 
lated the first fifty canons of the eastern church from Greek into Latin ; 
and it was only these that he introduced, under the name of the apostles, 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 327 

to the Latin Church, either because he had a mutilated copy, or (since 
there remains for us no other conjecture) because he viewed the last 
thirty -five as having come in later. Gradually those canons acquired a 
very great respect. As early as in the sixth century, they were cited by 
the Popes, and adduced as decisive authorities. Still, it is always only 
those fifty to which reference is made. Gratian, too, in the year 1145, 
states their number quite definitely at fifty. 1 

We have already mentioned John of Antioch as the first who received 
the canons into his collection of ecclesiastical laws ; but we can trace 
back the existence of these canons much farther. Here* we can only 
exhibit briefly some of the principal citations. It ought to be mentioned 
that, most probably, the title, Canons of the Apostles, is not the most 
ancient and credible; for it first occurs in the acts of the Ephesian 
Council, A.D. 431 ; and even here it is nncertain, since, according to one 
reading, it is 'the canons of the holy fathers? Such is the opinion which 
Spittler has expressed. 2 They occur far more frequently under the 
title, the Ancient Canons, the Apostolical Canons, or the Ecclesiastical 
Laws. 3 In this manner they are denominated in the canons of the 
council at Chalcedon, in 451. Besides, they are mentioned under this 
name by Nectarius, in the council at Constantinople, in the year 394 ; 
and the general council, in 381, had already used this designation. 4 
Indeed, it seems capable of being shown that the Nicene Council were 
already acquainted with our canons, since, for example, in their direc- 
tions concerning the circumcised, they refer to the ecclesiastical canons 
already known ; and, in the collection of the canons of the apostles, the 
twentieth and the twenty-first treat on the subject. Many other cases 
also might be pointed out, where, in the Nicene ecclesiastical directions, 
regard seems to be had to our canons ; but to make this clear would lead 
us to digress too far. It is in the highest degree probable also, that 
Athanasius, and Eusebius himself, were acquainted with many of these 
canons, since it is evident that, in their own concerns, they both used 
them as valid and convincing ecclesiastical laws ; the one, in order to 
prove the unlawfulness of his being deposed, without being judged by a 
council of bishops (comp. canon lxxiv.) ; the other, in order, with the 
help of this canon (comp. canon xiv.), to be able to decline the election 
which had fallen on him, for bishop of Antioch. 

1 Distinct. 16. Prsef. 

2 Gesclrichte cles canonischen Rechts bis auf die Zciten des falschen Isidores, S. 67- 

3 Q't liulat Kavovec, anocToJanol navoveq, EKiilr}GLaoTUiol {Ha/iot. 

4 See the passages extracted from the ancients by Bevericlge, in his Codex Cano- 
num, b. i. c. 3 (inserted in Cotelerius' Apostol. Fathers, torn. ii.). 



328 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

It is now generally acknowledged that these canons proceeded neither 
from the apostles nor from Clement, although their apostolic origin was 
maintained by several learned men against the Magdeburg centuriators, 
and even still later. 1 Some have ascribed them to a very early age, and 
some to a very late one ; and many conjectures on the subject have been 
brought forward. The investigation of Beveridge 2 is decidedly the most 
comprehensive and fundamental among those which have hitherto been 
instituted on the age of the canons. He is of the opinion that the canons 
arose in the second century, and were collected towards the end of that 
century, or in the beginning of the third. Already (on p. 276 and 
277) we have, at considerable length, stated Beveridge's conjecture, 
which maintains that Clement of Alexandria, instead of Clement of 
Rome, was the collector of the canons and Constitutions. But as, in the 
place referred to, we have refuted this conjecture, so also we must oppose 
his opinion respecting the age of the canons. We think that they are 
regulations made as occasions presented themselves, in the apostolical 
churches, at different times during the second and third centuries ; and 
that they, together with the eighth book of our Constitutions, and perhaps 
by the author of this last book, were collected towards the end of the 
fourth century. It cannot here be the object to point out the probable 
time of the origin of each canon, and, in respect to each, to mention the 
external circumstances of the times which occasioned it ; but we shall 
endeavor briefly to adduce the proof for the .above given result, especially 
since, in doing this, we discuss the relation of the canons to the Consti- 
tutions. 

These canons received their name, Canons of the Apostles, not because 
they proceeded from the apostles, but because each regulation which was 
according to the apostolic teaching, although it was first given by later 
teachers, was called an apostolical canon. It is acknowledged that, in 
the first centuries, those churches which could boast of being founded by 
apostles had greater respect than the others, and, as it were, a more 
potent sway. If now a regulation proceeded from such an apostolical 
church, it was believed that it might the more rightfully be denominated 
an apostolical canon. This suggestion is greatly favored by the testi- 
mony of Jerome : Each province may abound in its own sense, and 



1 On the history of the controversy concerning the respect due to the apostolical 
canons, see especially Cotta's Versuch einer ausfuhrlichen Kirchenhistorie, Th. ii. S. 
1173-1179; Ittig dc Pseudepigraphis Apostol. &c. cap.xi. § 12, p. 169 — ; and Bud- 
deus' Isagoge in Theol. Univ. pt. ii. cap. v. p. 746. 

2 In his Codex Canonum Ecclesiyc Primitive vindicatus ct illustratus. 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 829 

consider the precepts of ancestors apostolical laics. 1 There existed a 
multitude of such apostolical canons, out of which this collection of the 
canons arose. I have not, however, been able to convince myself that 
this testimony of Jerome must be referred also to our Constitutions, as 
some have asserted, especially in order to be able from this source also 
to prove that the Constitutions were composed of very many single parts. 
It is obvious that the Constitutions are a whole, or that at least their 
form is such that the passage in Jerome cannot have reference to them. 
Hence I have not hesitated to pass it over in silence, while considering 
the testimony respecting the Constitutions. But with so much the better 
right I may use it here, while treating on the origin of the canons. 

We have seen that these canons were frequently adverted to in many 
councils of the Eastern church, and even in the Nicene Council itself. 
But the manner in which they are brought forward seems very much to 
sustain the opinion that they existed singly in the various churches, 
before they were collected together. They are never introduced col- 
lectively, but always singly. An ancient law, 2 an ecclesiastical canon, 5 
an apostolical canon? and other similar designations, are used. In the 
councils of the fourth century, no collection of apostolical canons is ever 
mentioned ; and we have a right to infer that no such collection then 
existed. But the quotations which were made testify that single canons 
were already in use. Had these canons arisen at once, they would have 
had some connection with each other ; or at least their want of connec- 
tion would not have been as it is, so great that the canons belonging to 
one subject are never placed together. 

In our Constitutions many directions are found which the canons 
contain. Indeed, a very large part of the canons is wrought into the 
Constitutions, — at least so far as the sense is concerned. But it may 
serve to explain this circumstance, if we bear in mind that the author of 
the Constitutions, who intended to lay down in them the constituent 
elements for his ideal of a hierarchical Catholic church, and therefore 
wished to give a general system of discipline for the whole church, must 
necessarily have been acquainted with the whole state, and especially with 
the usages and laws, of the church, as it was at that period. He could 
not have been ignorant of the many separate canons which had been 
established in the various churches, in the second century and the third, 
and which, for the reasons already mentioned, were denominated apos- 



1 Una quffique provincia abundet in scnsu suo, et pracepta majorum leges apos- 
tolicas arbitrator. Epist. 52 ad Lucinium. 

2 Uu?.aiog vojioc. 3 Kdvcov EKK?,7](jiaoTt,Kog. 4 Kdvuv inzooToTiiKog . 



330 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

tolical canons. Hence he received into the Constitutions the canons 
which seemed to him suitable, and which could now and then also serve 
his leading object. In this way he could procure greater respect and 
influence for the Constitutions ; for there would be contained in them 
rules already generally known, and regarded as apostolical. 

The following are the principal points of agreement between the can- 
ons and the Constitutions : 

In the first canon it is commanded that the Bishop be ordained by two 
or three Bishops ; the Presbyter, as well as the Deacon and the other 
clergy, by one Bishop. 1 The same direction, almost in the same words, 
is found in the Constitutions, b. iii. c. 20 ; only here a reason for this 
precept is added, namely, that the testimony of two or three is more 
sure, and not to be doubted. 2 

In the canons iii. iv. and v. directions concerning oblations are given 
to the clergy ; and in canon v. it is commanded that the first-fruits (pri- 
mitise) come to the Bishop and the Presbyters, and that these impart 
them to the inferior clergy. 3 So, in the Constitutions, b. ii. c. 25 treats 
quite circumstantially concerning the first-fruits and the tithes, how far 
these belong to the Bishop, and how he has to distribute them ; only in 
this chapter the statement is very full and particular, and the expanded 
hierarchical principle presents itself to our view. 4 

Canon xiii. directs what must be done with those who had received an 
excluded clergyman or layman coming into another town without letters 
of commendation. Then follows, in canon xiv. the prohibition that no 
Bishop leave his parish, and leap into another, unless there be for it a 
cogent reason. The subsequent canons have no further reference to this 
subject (as they are all thrown together, without order), till canon xxxiv. 
In this it is commanded that no stranger, whether Bishop or Deacon, be 
received without letters of commendation. 5 If now we look at our Con- 



1 Let a Bishop be ordained by two or three Bishops ; a Presbyter by one Bishop, as 
also a Deacon, and the rest of the clergy. 

2 "We command that a Bishop be ordained by three Bishops, or at least by two ; 
but it is not lawful that he be set over you by one ; for the testimony of two or three 
witnesses is more firm and secure. But a Presbyter and a Deacon, and the rest of the 
clergy, are to be ordained by one Bishop. 

3 But let all other fruits be sent to the house of the Bishop as first-fruits for him and 
for the Presbyters ; but not to the altar. Now it is plain that the Bishop and the Pres- 
byters are to divide them to the Deacons and to the rest of the clergy. 

4 Of first-fruits and tithes ; and after what manner the Bishop is himself to partake 
of them, or to distribute them to others. 

5 Receive not any stranger, whether Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, without com- 
mendatory letters ; and even when such are presented, let the strangers be examined. 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 331 

stitutions, and search whether these directions are found also in them, we 
see that this subject is fully treated in b. ii. c. 58. L It is there said 
that, when a brother or a sister comes from another parish with such let- 
ters, the Deacon shall make examination. Then directions are there 
given concerning the reception of Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons, 
that are strangers. But all these directions are given entirely in the 
spirit and in the form of the Constitutions ; and if the author of the 
Constitutions knew these separate canons, he may have used them, with- 
out copying them word for word. 

Canon xvii. ordains that no one be made Bishop, or Presbyter, or 
Deacon, who, after his baptism, lives in bigamy, or has a concubine ; and 
canon xviii. ordains that no one can belong to the spiritual rank who 
marries a widow, or a woman divorced, or a prostitute, or a slave, or an 
actress. 2 Entirely the same ordinances are found in the Constitutions, 
b. vi. c. 17. 3 It is there strictly held that the Bishops, Presbyters, and 
Deacons, are permitted to be married only once ; and towards the end of 
the chapter there is added the prescription that it be permitted to no 
clergyman to marry a prostitute or a slave, a widow or a woman divorced. 
Here, then, is an entire agreement with canon xviii. except that the 
marriage with an actress is not here forbidden. 

The command, in canon xx. to be surety for no one, is found also in 
the Constitutions, b. ii. c. 6, — incidentally, indeed, and without mention- 
ing, as in canon xx. that the transgressor shall be deposed. In canon 
xl. 4 it is inculcated that the Presbyters and the Deacons execute nothing 
without the mind of the Bishop ; for he it is to whom the people of the 
Lord is intrusted, and from whom he will require an account respecting 
their souls. This is found in the Constitutions, expressed in general 
terms, b. ii. c. 26 and 31. 5 Canon xli. argues on the subject in the same 
spirit. 6 It commands that the Bishop have power over the property of 



1 If any one, a brother or a sister, come in from another parish, bringing a com- 
mendatory letter, let a deacon judge, &c. 

2 'O xvP av fafitiv, % £K(3ej3?<7]/j.£v7iv, ?) fruipav, rj o'lketiv, tj tuv etzI GK7}V7]g, ov dvvarat 
elvat kTTLOKOnog. ?/ TrpEGpvTepog, fj StaKovog, r/ oXog tov KaraXbyov tov iepariKOv. 

3 'Etcigkotcov Kal npeoftvTepov Kal ditucovov elirofiev fiovoyafiovg KaMoTacSaL, kuv 
&otv avruv at ya/j-eral, kuv te-Qvugl. — Ovdevi 6e tuv ev to K?^pu keXevo/xev f] eraipav, 
7] XVP av , K- a i £i<.j3e(3?iTi{j.EV7]v ?ia/j.ftav£iv ) tog 6 vofiog ? l £yec. 

4 01 Trpea^vrepoi Kal ol Siukovoi uvev yvtofir/g tov etugkottov firjdlv £TUT£?t,£(.TUGav, &C. 

5 Const, b. ii. c. 31 (the caption). 'Orl firj XPV tov Slukovov uvev tov ettcgkottov tl 

TTpUTTELV. 

6 YlpocTacaouev tov etccgkoizov efjovGtav exelv tuv T?jg £KH?i7]Giag npayfiuTiov ei yup 
Tag Tijiiag tuv uvdpuntov ^vxag avTu ttlgtevteov, ttoATuu uv /xuAAov 6eoi e-rrl tuv XPW a - 
tuv evTEAAEGdai, coGTE KaTu. tt/v avTOv h^ovolav -KuvTa 6ioui£LG-&ai, nal Tolg deoftivoig 6cu 

TUV TTpEGpVTEpuV Kal 6iaKOVtOV : &C. 



332 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

the church ; for since to him the precious souls of men are to be intrusted, 
much more must he have the management of the money, so that by virtue 
of his commission the Presbyters and Deacons might impart to the 
needy. Thus, too, in the Constitutions, b. ii. c. 25, 1 the management of 
the property of the church, and the providing for the poor, are committed 
to the Bishops. In canon xlv. punishments are decreed for those who 
have communion with the heretics ; and in the Constitutions, b. ii. c. 13, 
disapprobation of such communion or recognition is expressed. 

The canons xlvi. and xlvii. 2 and also lxvi. speak very decidedly 
against the baptism which is administered by heretics, reject all second 
baptisms, and represent each baptism of this kind as a defilement. The 
Constitutions, b. vi. c. 15, speak more copiously, but in the same strain. 
The Christians ought to be content with one baptism only, which is done 
into the death of the Lord, — not one which is performed by miserable 
heretics, but by blameless clergymen, in the name of the Father, of the 
Son, and of the Holy Spirit, 3 &c. Canon lii. seems in general to be 
directed against the rigid view which would not permit the readmission 
of the penitents. Our Constitutions, which treat circumstantially on most 
of the disciplinary regulations of the church, declare themselves also 
copiously on this weighty point, which then threatened to divide the 
church, and oppose expressly the opinion that the penitents must not 
be received again, as an exceedingly pernicious error, inconsistent with 
the mildness and generous forbearing of the gospel. So b. ii. c. 12 
and c. 14, and in many other places, which are brought into view in the 
examination on the Constitutions. 

It appears that at the time of canon lx. 4 it was already customary for 
heretics to introduce books clandestinely, under a false name, in order 
thereby to sustain their heresies ; for every one is threatened with being 
deposed, who circulates' spurious writings of the heretics in the church, 
to the destruction of the people and the clergy. In the same manner our 



1 Let him use those tenths and first-fruits which are given according to the com- 
mand of God, as a man of God. Let him dispense in a right manner the free-will 
offerings, which are brought in on account of the poor, the orphans, the widows, the 
afflicted, and strangers in distress. 

2 Can. xlvi. 'EnionoTrov, q irpecpvTepov, ?/ dianovov, alpennuv de^afievov fta-imc/ia f/ 
■dvoiav, nad-aipeicfiai TrpooTarrofiev. — Can. xlvii. 'Eniotconog ?) TtpeafiiiTepog tov tcaTu 
aXq&eiav exovra (3u7TTio[j.a eav avw&ev (3airTio7], ?) tov fie^oTivaftivov napu ruv aaej3uv 
lav ftaKTLOri, Kadaipeio&o. 

3 Const, b. vi. c. 15 (the caption). "On ovre avapanTi&iv XPV, °v re PV V irapade- 
Xecdai to napa tljv ao~e{3u)v (3u7TTia/xa do&ev, b ovi< eoti fSaTrriGfia, u?i?m iioKvo\ia. 

4 E"i rig to. ijJEvchTTiypafa tuv aoeftibv (3i[3Xla ug uyia km Tt/g £KK?i?jolag drjfioaievet 
Itti Xvfiri tov "kaov nal tov Kkrjpov^ Kadaiptiadio. 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 333 

Constitutions, b. vi. c. 16, treat concerning the spurious books (negl 
i(bv xjjevdeniyQucfojv fiipUhtv). The apostles, who are there introduced as 
speaking, give warning against the reception of books which, they say, 
' are corroborated by the impious through the use of our name.' * 

Upon the fasts, also, there are found in the canons and in the Constitu- 
tions entirely similar regulations. Canon lxiv. forbids to fast on the Sab- 
bath, except on one only ; 2 canon lxix. on the contrary, commands the 
fasting in Lent (Quadragesima), on Wednesday (Quarta feria), and on 
Friday (Parasceve). 3 Our Constitutions enter very fully upon this sub- 
ject, and also give the reasons why every Christian, at these times, should 
fast. See Constitutions, b. v. c. 15. 

This comparison will have sufficiently shown, that, certainly in the Con- 
stitutions, there is found very much that is similar and analogous to what 
is found in the canons. But since these canons are by no means 
received, word for word, into the Constitutions, it can only be admitted 
that the author of the Constitutions knew these canons, — at that time 
still scattered here and there, and not yet brought into a collection, — 
and received them, in effect, into his Constitutions. Still, the whole 
form of these Constitutions, even of those which are analogous to the can- 
ons, shows that they were never regulations which had practical force ; 
and the style of the Constitutions, which is often interrupted by long 
quotations from the Holy Scriptures, is distinguished throughout, even 
in the places analogous to the canons, from the style of the canons. 

It now only remains for us to adduce, from our Constitutions, some 
reasons for the time, already fixed by us, of the collection of the canons. 

In the Constitutions there is much that is analogous and similar to 
what is found in the canons ; and this might lead many to the conjecture 
that the canons, perhaps, are a short extract in the form of categorical 
regulations, and indeed (what favors this conjecture) the very extract 
which Athanasius mentions. For otherwise we must admit that this is 
lost ; since, by the testimony of Athanasius, it is made quite certain that 
such an extract from the Constitutions existed. Still the conjecture is 



1 Const, b. vi. c. 16. Tavra rravra ETTecreiAa^ev v(uv,'iva eldevac exoire ttjv q/ieTepav 
yv6)fiTjv ola tlq eoti : koX tu ett' uvo/ian r/fiuv napa rdv aoefipuv Kparv&evra /3ij3?ua jut/ 
-apadexeo&ai. 

2 If any one of the clergy be found to fast on the Lord's day, or on the Sabbath- 
day, except one only, let him be deposed ; but if he be one of the laity, let him be sus- 
pended. 

3 If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, or Reader, or Singer, do not fast the Fast 
of Forty Days, or the Fourth day of the week, or the day of the Preparation, let him 
he deposed, unless he be hindered by weakness of body ; but if he be one of the laity, 
let him be suspended. 



334 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

inadmissible ; for there is too much evidence against it. To make it at 
all tenable, we must say that this extract was made arbitrarily, and writ- 
ten in other words. Yet this assumption is no way established by the 
testimony of Athanasius. (See the investigation respecting it, p. 303 — .) 
And on the other side, even by this assumption, the fact cannot be 
explained, that there is found in the canons so much of which there is 
no trace extant in the Constitutions. This hypothesis must hence be 
rejected, especially since by it the complete confusion which prevails in 
the canons is not explained ; and our opinion, above stated, that they are 
canons which arose, one by one, in the apostolical churches, will certainly 
prove itself the more correct one. 

In the collection of the canons there is one, especially, which leads to 
a later age ; and, by a comparison with the Constitutions, gives a very 
interesting result. It is canon viii. 1 where each Bishop, Presbyter, and 
Deacon, is threatened with being deposed, who may have celebrated the 
holy day of the Passover before the vernal equinox, with the Jews. In 
perfect agreement with this canon, it is said in Const, b. v. c. 17, 'There- 
fore, brethren, ye, who have been redeemed by the precious blood of 
Christ, ought diligently to celebrate the days of the Passover, with all 
carefulness, after the equinox ; . . . no longer observing to keep the feast 
with the Jews.' If, now, we recollect that the original Constitutions, as 
we have seen by comparing the Constitutions which Epiphanius had 
with those which we have (see p. 313 — ), did not contain this regu- 
lation, but the contrary, and commanded to celebrate the feast with the 
Jews before the vernal equinox ; and if we consider that this regulation, 
as we read it in our present Constitutions, arose first after the time of 
Epiphanius, and is interpolated, then it will, from these considerations, 
become probable that canon viii. arose first after the time of Epipha- 
nius, about the end of the fourth century. 

In respect, now, to our conjecture that the canons were brought into a 
collection, towards the end of the fourth century, at the same time with 
the eighth book of our Constitutions, probably by the author of this 
book, — it is founded especially on the last of these canons. This 
seems to have originated with the collector of the canons, and clearly 
betrays its age. The canon gives a catalogue of the sacred books. It 
first enumerates the writings of the Old Covenant, and then proceeds, — 
' But our writings, that is, of the New Covenant, are the four Gospels of 
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the fourteen epistles of Paul, the two 



1 If any Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, shall celebrate the holy day of the Pass- 
over, before the vernal equinox, with the Jews, let him be deposed. 



EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES. 335 

epistles of Peter, three epistles of John, one epistle of James, one epistle 
of Jude, two epistles of Clement, and the Constitutions, which, by me Cle- 
ment, have been made known to you, the Bishops, in eight books, which 
must not be imparted to all, on account of the mysteries in them, and the 
Acts of us the Apostles.' x If now we consider, first, this catalogue of the 
books of the New Testament, it is evident that the canon is of a compar- 
atively late period, and belongs, at the earliest, to the end of the fourth 
century. It presents, as worthy of reverence and holy, and therefore as 
canonical, several books, respecting whose authenticity a very different 
opinion was entertained in the fourth century. They were then opposed 
and reckoned among the antilegomema, the spoken against. If we com- 
pare the New Testament canon of Eusebius (Hist. Eccles. b. iii. c. 25), 
we find that he reckons among the spoken against, the epistle of James, 
the epistle of Jude, the second epistle of Peter, and the second and third 
epistles of John. At a later period the prevalent opinion became more 
favorable to these epistles, and in the time of Jerome they were re- 
ceived into the canon of the Greek church. 

Certainly this is a cogent proof that our canon lxxxv. had its origin at 
the end of the fourth century. But the manner in which the author 
commends our Constitutions, as a work proceeding from the apostles, 
and delivered by Clement, proves sufficiently that the Constitutions were 
not unknown to him, and that his object was to procure for them respect 
and influence. 

We are obliged also to oppose the view of Beveridge, who, from the 
expression, 'by me Clement' (di l;iov KI^uevio;), since the words 'two 
epistles of Clement' (iO^uevTog btuutoIuI duo) preceded, would infer that 
this second Clement is not Clement of Rome, but Clement of Alexan- 
dria. While the pronoun ought to have been in the phrase, ' two epis- 
tles of Clement ' it appears that the author of the last canon added the 
clause, ' by me Clement,' without adverting to the preceding words, and 
so has not maintained, throughout, his assumed position. Since now this 
canon arose towards the end of the fourth century, and its author seeks 
in all possible ways to exalt the Constitutions fraudulently, we are nat- 
urally conducted to the supposition that he has had a part in the author- 
ship of the Constitutions. As it will appear from our subsequent inves- 
tigation, that the first seven books of the Constitutions form a whole, and 



1 Can. lxxxv. . . . 'HficTepa 6s, tovt' eoti, tt/q Kcuvrjg 6ia$7]K7j(;, sbayyDxa rsocapa, 
Man9 aiov, Mupnov, Aovna, 'luavvov Tlav?Mv kixtrsro'/ui 6eKaTioaapef Rerpov kmoTo7,al 
6vo- 'Ivavvov, Tpel<r 'lanujSov, (iia- \ov6a, fiia' KItijievtoq kniarokaL 6vo nal at 6ia~ayal 
vfuv rolr kiriOKioirouQ 6V e/xov KArjfievTog kv ourd (3i(3?dotg TrpooTre^uvrj/xevaL, ug ov XPV 
6rj/.ioGievecv kirl ttuvtuv, 6lu ru kv avralg fiaannu- nal at Trpa^etg q/iuv ruv a-ooroAuv. 



336 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

arose towards the end of the third century ; and that the eighth book, on 
the contrary, was added later, — probably towards the end of the fourth 
century ; — so must it become probable to us, that the author of the last 
canon is also the author of the eighth book of our Constitutions, or at 
least has put it together, as he put together the canons. In favor of this, 
some other considerations might be urged. 

If we assume this, then it is explained how the author of the last canon 
commanded to communicate the Constitutions not to all, on account of 
their mysterious contents. This could not so well be said of the seven 
books as of the eighth, to which it was the more applicable, because it 
contains directions respecting the ordination of Bishops, and a multitude 
of liturgical precepts, which are not exactly suitable to be communicated 
to every one, and specially concern the Bishops. In the absence of 
all external testimony, it is, to be sure, impossible to prove this abso- 
lutely ; but I am constrained to think that the reasons drawn from canon 
viii. and especially from canon lxxxv. give to the foregoing views the 
highest probability. Besides these two canons, hardly any other can 
have originated with the collector of the canons ; and no further compar- 
ison can be instituted between the canons and the Constitutions. Only 
there is one circumstance which may speak in favor of our view: — In 
the manuscripts the canons are an integral part of our Constitutions, and 
are added to the eighth book as the forty-seventh chapter. Could this be 
merely accidental ? Certainly, if this were the only reason, we might 
explain it as an accident ; but, when the other reasons are taken into 
consideration, we can well infer, without being arbitrary, that the author 
of the eighth book of the Constitutions collected the single canons, extant 
long before him, and made the last canon for the purpose of commending 
the Constitutions, and then subjoined the canons to the eighth book, as 
the concluding chapter. 1 



1 This circumstance explains, too, how the canons also have been attributed to 
Clement ; while otherwise there was no ground for thfs, either in external testimony, 
or in the canons themselves. 



THE APOSTLES AS THE AUTHORS. 337 



CHAPTER III. 

ON THE APOSTLES AS AUTHORS OF THE CONSTITUTIONS, AND ON 
CLEMENT OF ROME AS COLLECTOR OF THEM. 

On the Apostles as Authors of the Constitutions. 

The historical survey of opinions on the Constitutions will have 
shown sufficiently, that, with the exception of some few authors, who 
were led by special interests, the learned have always maintained that 
this work does not, even the most remotely, come from the apostles. 
Every one, also, who is unprejudiced, will, in a moment, convince 
himself of its not having an apostolical origin ; and, besides, Daille 
(see p. 287 — ) has carried the proof, in this case, even to a super- 
fluity. So therefore the question here will not be whether the apos- 
tles are actually the originators and authors of the work, but how 
far, in the Constitutions themselves, they are set forth in this character. 
For several cases may be supposed : — That either only the title of 
the writing, and the external testimonies respecting it, declare and 
affirm its apostolical origin ; or that only in single places, here and there, 
the apostles are named as the authors ; or, lastly, that the representa- 
tion, the apostles are the authors of the Constitutions, is an integral part 
of the writing itself; and that with the writing itself it is most closely 
connected and united. Among these cases, the last is the one which 
obtains here ; for the pretence of the apostolical origin is not at all 
loosely connected, but, on the contrary, it is kept up throughout the 
whole writing, and is interwoven with it. The apostles are introduced 
as speaking, and throughout the whole book the precepts are uttered by 
them ; or rather, we might say, the apostles introduce themselves as 
speaking ; for in the whole book there is no intimation that Clement, or 
any other person, had been commissioned by them to prepare this work, 
to make known in it their precepts and regulations, and for this purpose 
to introduce them as speaking. Book i. c. 1 begins with the apostolical 
salutation and address, altogether like those which we find in the epistles 
of Paul. 1 Then follow admonitions, precepts, and regulations, which 
make the far greater part of the book. These are imparled in the name 



1 The apostles and elders to all those who from among the Gentiles have believed 
in the Lord Jesus Christ : Grace and peace from the Almighty God, through our 
Lord Jesus Christ be multiplied unto you in the acknowledgment of him. 

22 



338 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

of all the apostles ; as also these regulations are almost all given in the 
plural. This plural, and thereby at the same time the reference to 
the apostles, goes through all the books of the Constitutions. Compare 

b. i. c. 7 ; ii. 1, 24, 51 ; iii. 11, 12, 20 ; iv. 5, 12, 14 ; v. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 
10, 14, 19, 20; vi. 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16,17; vii. 22 ; and almost 
throughout each chapter of the eighth book, about which we will treat 
further in the investigation respecting that book. In all these places the 
apostles themselves speak, and give the precepts together in common ; 
and this manner of speaking through the imperative is only occasionally 
interrupted. Indeed, sometimes they introduce it even expressly, that 
they are the twelve apostles, who, now assembled, impart this or that pre- 
cept, as in b. vi. ell and 12, and in many other places already men- 
tioned above. Nay, in c. 12 they mention also the choice of Matthias 
in the place of the betrayer : — ' We the Twelve assembled together 
at Jerusalem, for Matthias was chosen to be an apostle with us, instead 
of the betrayer, and took the lot of Judas, as it is said, His bishopric let 
another take.' 

We select here some other of the most remarkable passages, whence 
the manner in which the apostles are introduced in the Constitutions 
will sufficiently appear ; and we shall very clearly perceive, that the 
design to father the Constitutions upon the apostles, or, at all events, 
to represent them as proceeding from the apostles, is kept in view 
throughout the whole book. 

After it is mentioned in b. ii. c. 38, that the church received no heathen 
or publican into her communion, before they had repented of and for- 
saken their former impiety and immoral conduct, there are given, in 

c. 39, several examples of such repentance. Immediately in the begin- 
ning of the chapter, Matthew is also introduced speaking : — He also, at 
an earlier period, was a publican, but has now, through his faith, obtained 
forgiveness ; since he has repented of his earlier deeds, and is accounted 
worthy to be an apostle and preacher of the gospel. 1 The clause, of 
those twelve who speak to you in this doctrine (to^ iv rf^e rj dcdaaxaMa 
laldwTiov tifilv), is not to be overlooked. It inculcates abundantly that 
the apostles speak in this doctrine. B. ii. c. 63 is zealous against sloth- 
fulness ; and industry is commanded through the example of the apos- 
tles ; for they also were fishermen, tent-makers, and husbandmen. 2 



1 For I, Matthew, one of those twelve who speak to you in this doctrine, am an 
apostle, having even myself been a publican formerly, but now have obtained mercy 
through believing, and have repented, &c. 

2 For we ourselves, besides our attention to the word of the gospel, do not neglect 
our other employments : for some of us are fishermen ; some, tent-makers ; some, 
husbandmen, that so we may never be idle. 



THE APOSTLES AS THE AUTHORS. 339 

B. iii. c. 6 treats of women's right (or rather want of right) to exer- 
cise the teacher's office. It forbids the women to teach ; for while Jesus 
sent ' us the twelve ' to teach the people, he nowhere appointed women 
for the preaching of the gospel. If it had been suitable for women to 
teach, add the apostles, Christ would certainly have commanded this 
to his mother and his sisters, and to Mary Magdalen, Martha, and 
others, who were with us. 1 In the command, b. v. c. 2, to extend help 
to the brethren who, for the sake of the gospel, suffer persecution, and 
languish in prison or in exile, they set themselves forth as examples ; — 
they had often, for the sake of Christ, been beaten by order of Caiaphas, 
Alexander, and Annas. 2 As, now, in very many places of the Constitu- 
tions, great zeal is shown against the heretics, and all fellowship with 
them is forbidden ; so, especially in b. vi. c. 13, the apostles give warning 
against the false Christs, false prophets, and false apostles, who come 
forth in sheep's clothing, and conceal the wolf. In close connection with 
this, is added the following chapter, where it is said that against these 
teachers of error, they, all assembled, ha!d written this general rule of 
doctrine, to strengthen and confirm the minds of Christians. Here the 
matter is carried so far, that all the twelve are introduced by name ; at 
which we must the more wonder, as this single instance occurs in the 
midst of the book. 3 But since all is closely connected with what pre- 
cedes, and also all the twelve are often introduced in the midst of a book 
or a chapter, though not by name, no special inference can here be 
drawn ; and it can serve only to make it specially manifest that the 
Constitutions themselves take great pains to inculcate, and to recall to 



1 For our Master and Lord Jesus himself, when he sent us the twelve to make dis- 
ciples of the people and of the nations, did nowhere send out women to preach, 
although he did not want such, for there were with us the mother of our Lord and his 
sisters ; also Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James, and Martha and Mary, 
the sisters of Lazarus, Salome, and certain others. For had it been necessaiy for 
women to teach, he himself would have first commanded these also to instruct the 
people with us. 

2 For we ourselves also, when we often received stripes from Caiaphas, and Alexan- 
der, and Annas, went out rejoicing that we were counted worthy to suffer such things 
for our Saviour. 

3 B. vi. c. 14. On whose account also we who are now assembled in one place, 
Peter and Andrew, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Philip and Bartholomew, 
Thomas and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Lebbeus who is suraamed 
Thaddeus, Simon the Cananite. and Matthias who, instead of Judas, was numbered 
with us, James the brother of the Lord, and Bishop of Jerusalem, and Paul, the teacher 
of the Gentiles, the chosen vessel, all being present, have written to you this catholic 
doctrine for the confirmation of you who have been intrusted with the oversight of the 
church universal. 



340 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

the memory, that they are from the apostles. But one of the most 
important passages is b. vi. c. 18 ; and this for several reasons. First, 
it appears as if the apostles here themselves spoke out respecting the 
object of the Constitutions, which they denominate the General Teaching 
or Catholic Doctrine (rr\vds %\v xadohxriv didaaxullav) ; and, secondly, 
the apostles here mention Clement, which is the more important, since 
in no other place of the Constitutions is there any mention of him ; x that 
is, in reference to our Constitutions ; for in a very different way he is 
mentioned in b. vii. c. 46. Opposition against the heretics, whose com- 
munion all others must avoid, extends itself through all the preceding 
part of the chapter. The apostles have gone through all lands, to main- 
tain and establish the pure doctrine. This they had done everywhere, 
from city to city ; and now they left to the bishops and the other clergy, 
this general canon of doctrine (rr^de tt\v xaQolixr)v didaoxallav} for a 
confirmatory memorial to those who believed in God. But it is very 
remarkable that it is added : — ' We have sent it by our fellow-minister, 
Clement, our most faithful and intimate son in the Lord.' In vain do 
we seek elsewhere for a place in the Constitutions, where the apostles 
have mentioned their relation to Clement, so far as it specially concerns 
our Constitutions. From this place, taken exactly, it does not appear at 
all that Clement had participated in the preparation of the Constitutions, 
unless one is disposed to urge the expression ' fellow-minister ' (ovllei- 
jovyyog) ; but rather that the apostles alone were authors of the Consti- 
tutions, and that Clement only handed them over to the bishops, and 
promoted their circulation. 

The only other passage which we bring forward here is b. vii. c. 46, 
which is very characteristic, and shows how the apostles, as such, make 
their appearance in the Constitutions, and, without any limitation, guide 
and govern the internal as well as the external affairs of the church. 
The chapter begins with the address : — Now concerning those bishops 



1 Eor we ourselves, as we passed through the nations, and confirmed the churches, 
curing some with much admonition and many healing words, we brought them back 
again when they were ready to perish in error. But those that were incurable we cast 
out of the flock, that they might not infect with their scabby disease the lambs that 
were sound, but that these might continue before the Lord God pure and undefiled, 
sound and unspotted. And this we did in every city, everywhere, through the whole 
world, and have left to you, the bishops, and to the rest of the priests, this the catholic 
doctrine worthily and righteously, for a memorial of confirmation to those who have 
believed in God ; and we have sent it by our fellow-minister Clement, our most faithful 
and intimate son in the Lord, together with Barnabas, and Timothy, our most dearly 
beloved son, and the genuine Mark ; with whom also we commend to you Titus and 
Luke, &c. 



THE APOSTLES AS THE AUTHORS. 341 

who have been ordained by us in our lifetime, we inform you that they 
are the following. 1 Then the first bishops of Jerusalem, Caesarea, An- 
tioch, Alexandria, Rome, Ephesus, Smyrna, and several other places, are 
enumerated. These now, it is then said in the end of the chapter, 
are they who have been intrusted by us with the parishes in the Lord ; 
whose doctrine keep ye always in mind, and observe our words. 2 Each 
apostle enumerates here, personally, those whom he has ordained. But 
the citation shows how inconsiderately the author introduces the apostles 
as speaking. For, manifestly, the beginning of the chapter sounds as if 
the apostles had written this immediately after their death, or, at least, 
near their death ; so that, in any case, they could ordain no more bish- 
ops. This, no doubt, is an inconsiderateness of the author ; and there 
occur several other instances like it. This place can also be used to 
show that, even in the Constitutions as we have them, Clement is no- 
where introduced as their collector, or standing in any such relation to 
them. In the catalogue of bishops it is said, ' The first bishop of the 
church at Rome, Linus, the son of Claudia ' (probably the female who is 
mentioned at the same time with him in the salutation, 2 Tim. 4: 21), 
' was ordained by Paul ; but the second, Clement, by me Peter, after the 
death of Linus.' 3 Still it would be natural to expect here, upon the men- 
tion of Clement, some additional clause indicating that this is the Clement 
through whom these Constitutions have been written down and delivered. 
On the contrary, Clement, just like the other bishops, is here enumerated 
simply as bishop of Rome. This silence, to be sure, and this want of a 
nearer indication, is only a negative proof; but still it is one of some sig- 
nificance. Not as if it were thus to be proved that Clement could not be 
their author or collector ; for, from other considerations, this is sufficiently 
established ; but thereby it is to be only negatively proved that the inter- 
polator may not have taken any special pains to palm the writing upon 
Clement ; and that, from the want of evidence indicating that he did, we 
might rather conclude the author or authors had no design of attributing 
it to Clement. On the appearing of the apostles in the eighth book, and 
on the manner in which they appear there, we will treat more particu- 
larly in the investigation respecting that book. 



1 Uepl 6s tuv v<p qfiov x eL P 0T0V7 l^^ VTUV etuokokov ev ry fay ry f/fieTepa, ■yvupifofx.EV 
v/jIv, oti elalv ovtol • — 

2 Ovtol o'l v<b' rjp.Cjv k^LGTev&evreg rag kv Kvpiu irapoLKLag- uv rrjg didaonahiag fj,vr]/ito- 
vevovTeg ttuvtots TrapatyvTu'toGEode rovg yfisripovg Tioyovg, &c. 

3 B. vii. 46. T^f 61 'Pufiaiuv kKtOtfoiag Alvog ftsv 6 K7.av6iag Trpuroc, vnb TLavlov, 
Klr/firjg 61 fisru tov Alvov ddvarov v~' e/j.ov TlErpov, 6Ev~Epog KEXEtporovrjrai. 



342 ESSAY ON THE^CONSTITUTIONS 



On the meaning of the name Clement, in the Apostolical Constitutions. 

That Clement is not the author of the Constitutions, stands fast al- 
ready, in and for itself; and, as the historical representation has shown, it 
is proved sufficiently, and is now pretty generally acknowledged. Yet, 
even to the present time, the question has occasionally been started, but 
much more seldom discussed, how it happens that the Constitutions 
were ascribed to Clement, and under his name have come down to us. 
In quoting the most important passages in which the apostles present 
themselves as speaking, we have also considered particularly the passages 
in which Clement is mentioned by the apostles. We have seen that 
these few passages do not fully give us the right to think that the author 
and interpolator wished to have them viewed as a work of Clement ; for 
if he had, it would be inconceivable how the forger should not have 
carried out his design more completely, and have made the apostles say 
that Clement is the composer and recorder of those precepts which they 
had imparted to him. Instead of this, the relation of Clement is men- 
tioned only in one place, b. vi. c. 18, from which it only follows that 
Clement was the bearer of the Constitutions to the bishops and other 
clergy. If now we turn to the external testimonies, we find in those of 
the first centuries not the slightest trace that the Constitutions were 
attributed to Clement, but they were introduced only under the name of 
the apostles ; for as to the testimony of the last apostolical canon, our 
preceding investigation respecting it has shown, that, on the one hand, it 
cannot be viewed at all as a testimony from the first centuries ; and that 
it was fabricated by the hand of a more recent interpolator, probably also 
in favor of our Constitutions. The first certain external witnesses that 
mention Clement are, as we have already seen, the second Trullan 
canon, and Photius. Although even their testimonies do not expressly 
say that Clement was the author of the Constitutions, yet in this canon 
of the Council supplementary to the fifth (Quinisextum), the expression, 
' the Constitutions of the same Holy Apostles by Clement ' (rag i&v ccvt&v 
dyiojv anooTolwv di& Klrjfievwg diaju^stg), seems to point to the opinion 
that they were written down by Clement ; unless, perhaps, the expres- 
sion, by Clement (diu, KlTjfiiviog), be taken from b. vi. c. 18, and should 
indicate only that Clement was the person who circulated them. But 
Photius already seems more to attribute the Constitutions to Clement as 
his work. ' Two books of Clement of Rome,' he says, ' are read ; one of 
which is inscribed, Constitutions of the Apostles by Clement.' ('Ave- 
yvwode KX^fievTOg rod c P(bfiT]g xeup; ftiftllwv dio- kv to (.ibv ETtiygdcpeiat 
dicnayal twj> ujioarolojp did Kl^fisviog.} 



CLEMENT OF KOME. 343 

We can therefore at least draw the conclusion, that, first after the time 
of Epiphanius, the Constitutions were ascribed to Clement, or this re- 
nowned bishop of Rome was thought of as standing in a special relation 
to them. 

It still remains for us to solve the question, how it could occur that 
these Constitutions were ascribed to Clement of Rome ; and whether 
in history there are circumstances from which not only this can be 
explained, but from which also it arises that the name of Clement is no 
way without significancy for our investigation. 



On the Historical Clement} 



Clement of Rome, or the Roman Clement, is probably the same who, 
in the Epistle to the Philippians, 4 : 3, is numbered by Paul among his 
fellow-laborers in making known the gospel. There can be given only 
few historical facts from the life of Clement, since we find only few data 
in the later church historians, from whose statements what is historical 
must be put together with caution. 2 But it is no way possible to give a 
full account of his life, entering into particulars, unless, with entire mis- 
apprehension of the apostolic age, and with entire neglect of criticism, 
we will draw from fountains which, upon unprejudiced examination, must 
appear quite unworthy of being used. Kestner, indeed (in the work 
mentioned on p. 299), attempts to set forth a complete history of the Ro- 
man Clement ; but it only shows how a preconceived opinion leads to a 
misapprehension of all that is truly historical ; and that, while its whole 
argumentation rests on sources which are altogether spurious, or very 
much interpolated, as we have already been reminded, this has neces- 
sarily given occasion to much that is absurd. 

Clement, by the holiness of his life, soon acquired very great respect ; 
so that Peter ordained him bishop of the church at Rome, where, in the 
beginning of the second century, he seems to have died. But the 
accounts are very different in respect to the time when, and the order of 
succession in which, Clement was made bishop at Rome. Hence we 
seek so to discuss as to determine this with reference to oar Constitutions. 

Our Constitutions relate, in b. vii. c. 46, that the first Roman bishop 

1 Compare J. A. Fabricii Bibliotheca Groeca, lib. iv. c. 5, p. 175, and bib. v. c. 1, § 12. 
vol. v. p. 31 ; G. Cave, Hist. Lit. Scriptor. Eccles. torn. i. p. 28 ; and Bamberger's Nach- 
richten von den vomehmsten Scbriftstellem, Tbeil. ii. S. 186. 

2 Jerome, De Viris Iilustribus, c. 15, mentions that he died in the third year of the 
reign of the emperor Trajan, without relating that he suffered martyrdom. 



344 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

was Linus, and that he was ordained by Paul ; but the second, Clement, 
who, after the death of Linus, was ordained by Peter. But this account 
departs entirely from the commonly received one in regard to the order 
of succession and the time of the Roman bishops. Eusebius, in his 
Ecclesiastical History, b. iii. c. 2, who seems to have followed Irenasus 
(against Heresies, b. iii. c. 3), names Linus as the first bishop of Eome. 
He quotes also, in his Ecclesiastical History, b. v. c. 6, the passage of 
Irenseus, which he also approves. 1 According to these authors, therefore, 
Anacletus, or Anencletus, had succeeded Linus ; and Clement had suc- 
ceeded Anencletus. To these accounts Jerome also assents, in his work 
on Illustrious Men. 2 According to these, therefore, Linus, after the 
death of the two apostles, 3 governed the church in Rome, about twelve 
years ; that is, to about the year 79 or 80. Anencletus followed him 
during another twelve years ; so that, according to these accounts, our 
Clement must have been made bishop about the year 91 or 92. See also 
Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, b. iii. c. 4 and 15. The first dis- 
crepancy with our Constitutions lies in this, that these designate Paul as 
the person who ordained Linus ; but, on the contrary, all the more 
ancient and modern writers agree in representing that Peter did this* 
Only Irenasus ascribes this to both the apostles. Still the statement of 
Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. b. iii. c. 2, contradicts the statement of our Con- 
stitutions, that Linus died before Peter, although this latter is asserted 
by several. Epiphanius also (Heresy xxvii. 6) relates that Clement 
was . not willing to enter on his office as bishop, till after the death of 
Linus and Anacletus (or Anencletus, or Cletus, which, according to the 
opinion of most learned men, are rightly held to be one and the same 
person). All these testimonies are opposed by our Constitutions, by 
which the successor of Linus is represented to be Clement, who also 
was ordained by Peter. In this latter statement, to be sure, in common, 



1 Irenams adv. Hseres. iii. 3, p. 202, ed. Grabe. Eusebius (Eccles. Hist. b. v. c. 5) 
says : ■ This writer has inserted the succession of the bishops in his third book against 
the heresies ;' and then proceeds in the sixth chapter to insert the passage : ' The blessed 
apostles, having founded and established the church, transmitted the office of the epis- 
copate to Linus. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in his epistles to Timothy. He 
was succeeded by Anencletus ; and, after him, Clement held the episcopate, the third 
from the apostles ; who, as he had seen the blessed apostles, and had been connected 
with them, might be said to have the doctrine of the apostles still sounding in his ears, 
and what they delivered before his eyes.' 

2 Hieronym. De Viris Illustribus, c. 15. 

3 As this appears from Eusebius, Eccles. Hist., b. iii. c. 2 : — ' After the martyrdom 
of Paul and Peter, Linus was the first that received the episcopate of the church of the 
Romans.' 



CLEMENT OF HOME. 345 

all agree ; and respecting it Tertullian also has left us a well-known tes- 
timony. 1 Here now arises the great difficulty of bringing into harmony 
these various accounts, if we will not admit a downright contradiction. 
Still there are some writers who corroborate the opinion of our Con- 
stitutions; as Augustine (Epist. cxxxv.) and Optatus (lib. ii.). 

Yet others, as Tertullian, in the place cited ; Nicephorus, in his Hist, 
ii. 35 ; Rutin, De Adulteratione Librorum Origenis ; Eucherius, in his 
Epistola Perasnetica ; Bede, in his Hist. b. ii. c. 4, and others, state that 
Clement was the first successor of Peter, and, after him, the second 
bishop. With this account, Cotelerius, in his Annotations on b. vii. c. 46, 
has endeavored to unite the opinion of our Constitutions. With the 
Constitutions it would be harmonized, if we assume that, while Linus is 
viewed also as preceding, he still died in the lifetime of Peter ; and with 
the view of Irenseus, if, according to the opinion of Epiphanius, we 
assume that Clement, ordained by Peter, gave up the episcopate to 
Linus ; and further, that Anacletus succeeded Linus, and Clement suc- 
ceeded Anacletus, as he again undertook the episcopate. Accordingly, 
Cotelerius arranges the succession of the bishops in the following man- 
ner : — Peter, Linus, Clement (by the author of our Constitutions this 
place is assigned him, on account of his ordination ; but by Irenseus he 
is here passed over on account of his abdication of the episcopate), 
Anacletus, and again Clement. It cannot here be the place to enter 
upon the many conjectures and assertions which have been adventured 
respecting the history of the first bishops of Rome. 2 It is enough for us 
here to have placed the statement of the Constitutions by the side of the 
other testimonies. 

At all events, it stands historically certain that Clement, after the year 
91, was at the head of the Roman church. About the year 96, there 
arose, in the church at Corinth, great dissensions and divisions. Several 
restless members set themselves in opposition to the teachers and elders, 
so that the church was greatly injured and almost destroyed. Clement 
now, in the name of his church, directed to the Corinthians a writing, in 
which he, in the mildest and most impressive manner, urged them to 
unity, meekness, and conciliation. Although the difference between 
Clement's manner of writing and that of the apostles is very great, and 
we cannot mistake the sudden transition and change from the style 
and spirit of the apostolical writings, yet there prevails in the whole 
letter a genuine Christian spirit ; and the manner of introducing the 



1 De Prescript. Hseret. c. 38. 

2 See Pearson and H. Dodwell, De Successione Primorum Romae Episcoporum 
and J. Phil. Baratier, De Success. Antiquiss. Episc. Rom. 



346 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

New Testament writings, as well as the whole contents of the letter, 
testifies for its high antiquity. According to Eusebius (Eccles. History, 
b. iii. c. 16), it stood in so high esteem that in most churches it was 
publicly read, in connection with the divine service. In modern times 
the genuineness of this first epistle, as a whole, has generally been 
acknowledged. Still we cannot pronounce it free from considerable 
interpolations. Thus, for example, it can escape no one that the mention 
of Danse and Dirce (Epist. i. to the Corinthians, c. 6) does not at all suit 
the connection ; at least, it would be passing strange if Clement, for the 
purpose of introducing an example of constancy in the faith, should wish 
to make use of these heathen narrations. It seems to be equally 
unworthy of Clement, and of the whole apostolical simplicity of his 
letter, if he, from the fable of the bird Phoenix (Epist. to the Corinth- 
ians, c. 25 and c. 26), should wish to illustrate the possibility of the 
resurrection from the dead. Much rather can we hold this narrative to 
be an interpolation which belongs to a later age, in which the Christian 
consciousness had receded, and men were pleased with such argumenta- 
tions. The conjecture also might not be too adventurous to place these 
and similar interpolations in the age of our Constitutions. At least, the 
same account of the bird Phoenix is found also in our Constitutions ; and 
if there is a difference in the account, it is not an essential one. In the 
epistle to the Corinthians, Clement relates that this bird dies in Arabia ; 
but our Constitutions, b. v. c. 7, that it builds itself a funeral pile in 
Egypt, and consumes itself by fire. On the contrary, the agreement in 
the cited passage of the Constitutions is very essential, since the account 
of the bird Phoenix is also here mentioned as presenting a case analogous 
to the resurrection of men, and as being an account from which also the 
heathen had argued. Once more : The passage in c. 40 is very much 
to be suspected, because it transfers the whole Jewish priesthood into 
the Christian church ; while, in the other parts of the letter, the simple 
relations of the apostolic age prevail, and Clement sets Bishops and 
Presbyters or Elders on a level, and uses these titles interchangeably 
(see c. 42 and 44). Here also the same interpolator could have been 
busy, who composed the Constitutions, and transferred into them the 
whole Levitical system of priests. This first epistle to the Corinthians 
might, as for the rest, be the only genuine document which has come to 
us from the historical Clement. For the so-called second epistle to the 
Corinthians, which, it is manifest, is only a fragment of a homily, cannot 
be regarded as a writing of the historical Clement ; and this opinion pre- 
vailed already in the ancient church ; as also Eusebius (Eccles. Hist, 
b. iii. c. 38) states that the epistle was not received in the ancient church, 
and that her teachers had not used it as an authority. 



THE CLEMENTINE WRITINGS. 347 

From the circle of multifarious writings which, besides these, we 
possess under the name of Clement, or which have been ascribed to him 
by tradition, no other one has yet been acknowledged as genuine, and 
actually belonging to Clement. We lose here entirely the historical 
territory, while the richest territory of tradition opens itself to us. And 
this is by no means a territory which could not afford interesting results 
and elucidations in aid of historical investigation. For, like our Consti- 
tutions, there are, in the multitude of pseudo-Clementine writings, many 
which supply characteristic contributions for the history of the church 
and its doctrines. The question becomes the more natural and interest- 
ing, how it happens that all these writings bear the name of Clement ; 
and whether a cause is to be found for the fact, or what meaning the 
name of Clement has in this connection. 



Clement, a collective name, denoting a circle of the traditions of the first 

three centuries. 

The first writing which presents itself to us is the so-called Recogni- 
tions (avayvcoQiafioV) of Clement, which relates the history of Clement 
himself. It is a kind of philosophical, theological romance, in which 
probably the author has painted the history of his own inner life. 
Perhaps also the author wished to interweave what he himself had 
experienced, into the life of a man generally known and honored ; or, 
what to me, at least, is the more probable, he used only a slight his- 
torical basis, and sent forth the whole as a fiction, having, from the 
life of Clement, taken some facts into his writing for the purpose of 
increasing its circulation and influence. Profoundness and inner life 
cannot, in general, be denied to this pseudo- Clementine writing, while 
there is also found in it much that is perverse and tasteless. Clement is 
represented as an eminent Poman, who, amidst the corruption of the 
then vicious Pome, had preserved purity of morals and a soul longing 
after the more elevated. He sought and wished to obtain explanation 
on the great questions which agitated his whole soul. Tossed by anxious 
doubts concerning God and the world, and concerning himself in respect 
to these, and concerning immortality, he sought information and dis- 
closures in the schools of the philosophers. But nowhere did he find 
satisfaction and rest ; nowhere was the longing of the soul quieted ; and 
already he was wishing to seek explanation in the mysteries and magic 
of Egypt, when he first heard the announcement of the gospel, as Bar- 
nabas came to Pome. Then, relate the Recognitions, Clement journeyed 



348 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

to Cassarea, where he found Peter, and by him was fully converted. 
There are then related the travels of the apostle Peter in Palestine and 
Syria ; his oral contests with Simon Magus, and many of his miracles. 
Still the Recognitions pursue the history of Clement ; he finds again his 
mother Matthidia, who for some long years had disappeared (b. vii. c. 
23). There follows also the recognition of his father Faustinian, who, 
by various events, had been removed from them (b. ix. c. 36 and 37). 
Hence also the name Recognitions. The writing consists of ten books, 
and has come down to us only in the Latin translation by Rutin. 
Unquestionably these Recognitions are spurious, and belong perhaps to 
the end of the second or beginning of the third century ; but certainly 
to no later time. The testimonies, too, of the ancients reject them as not 
coming from Clement, and as interpolated. See Eusebius, in his Ec- 
clesiastical History, b. iii. c. 3, where the Acts of Peter appear to be 
identical with the Recognitions of Clement ; and b. iii. c. 38, where 
the Dialogues of Peter and Apion also seem to be the same with the 
Recognitions. Again and again the Recognitions occur under various 
names. They are especially assailed and rejected by Epiphanius 
(Heresy xxx. 15), and by Jerome (in Catalog. Scrip. Eccles. c. 1, 
and lib. i. adv. Jovinianum, c. 14). It is hardly possible, without an 
extended investigation, to give a definite judgment; especially since, 
in the quoted places, this writing of Clement coincides, in great part, 
with those which pertain to the history and preaching of Peter. The 
whole becomes still more difficult from the fact that, in the testimonies of 
the ancients, we have not a single indication respecting the rise of these 
apocryphal writings, and respecting their relation to one another, and 
their various recensions. 

The pseudo- Clementine Homilies are very nearly related to these 
Recognitions, in respect to contents ; but in respect to the language, no 
comparison can be instituted, since we have only the Latin translation of 
the Recognitions, while we have the Greek original of the Homilies, the 
Clementina, the other work ascribed to Clement. There are nineteen 
of them, in which almost the same matter is brought forward as in the 
Recognitions; so that it seems as if both works were only different 
recensions or editions of one and the same work. Probably the object 
of these Clementine homilies is to set forth the apostle Peter as a 
defender of the Judaizing Christianity. According to the judgment of 
a distinguished church-historian, the Clementine Homilies come near 
the view of the Nazarenes ; while in them the complete observance of the 
ceremonial law is held necessary for the Jews only, not for the heathen. 1 

1 A. Ncandcr on the Pseudo- Clementine Homilies, a contribution to the history of 



THE CLEMENTINE WRITINGS. 349 

At the same time, according to that author, there are in them some 
things also which oppose the view of the Nazarenes. 

The rise of the Clementine homilies may be placed, most probably, at 
the end of the second or the beginning of the third century ; where the 
Greek philosophy and speculative knowledge (pwcrtc) began the contest 
with Christianity ; so that the work may have been occasioned by the 
need of setting forth the collisions and dissensions of the time. It cannot 
be the object here to enter into the development of the ideas contained 
in them ; and in respect to them we can only refer to Neander's excel- 
lent treatise. 

Eespeding the early interpolation of writings which bear the name of 
Clement, there is testimony, especially in the two epistles which are 
preserved under his name in the Syrian church ; and which Wetstein, 
in the second part of his New Testament, first published from a Syriac 
manuscript. In them there is found neither salutation nor subscription, 
whereby we might come to know the author. Only the transcriber had 
prefixed, ' Moreover, the first epistle of blessed Clement, the disciple of 
the apostle Peter ' (Porro, epistola prior beati Clementis, discipuli Petri 
apostoli.) 1 These epistles, which bear the impress of simplicity, and 
in which is still found the whole church life of the apostolic time, 
appear to have arisen in the second century. A strong indication of this 
is the fact, that in them there is no trace of the idea of the Levitical 
priesthood, which in the^ writings of later times is carried out in so 
many ways ; but while, before the fourth century, they are not mentioned 
at all in any testimony of the ancients, this may well be alleged against 
their early introduction. They could not, however, have been forged 
later than the beginning of the third century. 

Another writing, which belongs to this circle of traditions, the first 
epistle of Clement to James, is certainly spurious ; and came as little 
from Clement, if we may now consider this epistle as it is found in the 
edition of the pseudo-Isidore, or as it is still extant in the old trans- 
lation by Eufin. Some have been disposed to assert its authenticity 
according to this translation ; but Constant has already suggested, that 



the Ebionites, as a supplement to his Genetischen Entwickelung der vornehmsten 
gnostischen Systeme. Berlin, 1818; S. 361. 

1 Besides being in Wetstein, the epistles are found also in Mansi (Sacror. 
Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio. Florent. et Venet. 1759) ; in Mansi's 
Collection, Epistola vi. et vii. torn. i. p. 144-156. Nathaniel Lardner, in his 'Dis- 
sertation upon the two Epistles ascribed to Clement of Rome, lately published by 
Mr. Wetstein,' has assigned many reasons for not ascribing them to Clement. 



350 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

James was martyred long before the death of Peter. 1 Against this, to 
be sure, there has been suggested again the uncertainty of the time of 
this historical fact. Still that Clement is not the author is fully certain ; 
and while we cannot here bring the proof from the contents of the epistle 
(the reader can easily consult them himself), we add merely that the tes- 
timonies of the ancients prove negatively that Clement is not the author. 
Rutin, in his preface to the Recognitions, thinks that the epistle was 
written after the Recognitions; and Photius (Cod. 112 and 113), 
that it is a dedication of the work which embraced the Acts of Peter, 
the Disputations with Simon, and the Recognition of Clement and his 
family. However this may be, it hence appears, indirectly, that they 
also did not regard the epistle as really belonging to Clement. The 
second so-called Clementine epistle to James, of which Rutin yet knew 
nothing, is manifestly spurious. 

Besides these most generally known epistles of Clement, there are 
still several which have been less generally known ; but, nevertheless, all 
have been falsely introduced under the name of Clement. 2 

Moreover, under the name of Clement, there has come to us an abstract 
from the Clementine homilies, from the Recognitions, from the first 
epistle of Clement to James, from the Martyrdom of Clement, and from 
the Narrative of Ephraim, in which all that is superfluous and hurtful 
seems to be designedly either omitted or amended.^ 

The Martyrdom of Clement, which is full of the most tasteless super- 
stition, belongs unquestionably to a very late time, as it is mentioned by 
no ancient writer ; and Rutin (De Adulteratione Librorum Origenis) is 



1 Epistolse Rom. Pontiff, ed. Petri Const, torn. i. in the Appendix, p. 3, 4. Par. 
1721, fol. Sed et inde certa et explicata est epistolse hujus falsitas, quod earn Cle- 
mens post passionem Petri ad Jacobum scribere fingitur, quern ante Petrum obiisse 
indubitatis monumentis notum habetur. Nam Jacobum anno Christi 62, a Judasis 
occisum esse convenit: Petrum autem aliqui anno 65, plures anno 66, alii aut 67 aut 
68, nulli sane ante 65 passum existimant. 

2 They are found in Mansi Coll. Ampliss. Concil. Epistola III. IV. V. torn. i. p. 
130-144. Besides, Mansi has preserved from a very ancient manuscript at Lucca, six 
pretended short Decrees of Clement, of which the last four contain nothing that speaks 
positively against their spuriousness. Ibid. torn. i. p. 158. Blondell, in Pseudo-Isodoro 
et Turriano Vapulantibus, Genev. 1628, is of the opinion that Isidore has forged these 
also. Still, Mansi has received also into his collection the Praecepta S. Petri de Sacra- 
mentis Conservandis ; the contents of which, however, coincide, in great part, with the 
contents of the second epistle of Clement to James. Ibid. 

3 KTiTj/xevrog kiriaKOTrov To//^, nepc ruv Trpa&uv, £TTidT)fii&v re, ical KT/pvyfiaruv tov 
ityiov /cat Kopvfyaiov tuv airooroluv Uirpov eiUTOfirj kv y kcu 6 avrov cvfiirepieifynTai 
(3iog> Trpoc '1uko)(3ov knicKonov 'lepoooXvfiuv. 



THE CLEMENTINE WRITINGS. 351 

the very first who mentioned Clement as a martyr. See what we have 
said above, page 343. 1 

We have here given a survey of the principal pseudo- Clementine writ- 
ings ; but, besides these, there are ascribed to Clement many others, which 
we cannot here mention further. 2 As now the question in general, how so 
great a multitude of spurious writings could have arisen, and where the 
origin of them is to be sought, is not without importance ; .so it is, too, 
with the question, how Clement became the representative of a whole 
circle of spurious writings. On this question in general, an investigation 
has already been instituted by Mosheim ; and the result to which he has 
come is, that the cause of this phenomenon is to be sought especially in 
the multitude of heretical parties of the first centuries, who, in the con- 
viction that a pious fraud was permitted for the support and extensive 
spread of their views, invented writings and brought them into circula- 
tion. 3 Certainly we must concede to Mosheim, that, after the influence 
of the new Platonic philosophy, the number of the spurious writings 
increased, and these bore on them a peculiar Gnostic character ; but, 
nevertheless, these spurious writings are found in very great number, 
before the New Platonics. It is certain that the endeavors to make 
entrance for many regulations and institutions of each successive age, by 
the authority of distinguished men, were very considerable causes of 
these interpolations. In the fabrication, for example, of the pseudo- 
Clementine writings, both causes, the dogmatic interest and the hier- 
archal, have found place. Their author belongs manifestly to the class 



1 It has already been mentioned, that the collection of the canons also has been 
ascribed to Clement ; another indication that this name was considered as a collective 
and very comprehensive one. 

2 Periodi Petri, Disputatio Petri et Apionis, Sermones de providentia et justo judi- 
cio Dei, libri x. : de vero Propheta, de proprietate intelligently Legis, de principio, de* 
Deo, de dnobus ccelis, de firmamento invisibili, de malo et bono, de verbis Domini, 
quae sibi videntur esse contraria, sed non sunt, de generatione per Baptismum, Apo- 
calypsis Petri sive Eevelationes bead Petri apostoli, &c. Compare Cotelerius, SS. 
Patr. temp. Apost. Opp. I. p. 818. Clement, too, as is well known, has been thought 
to be the author of the epistle to the Hebrews. This conjecture is founded on the 
great similarity of this epistle to tbe first epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. Here 
it may well be replied, that it can hardly be supposed that this author would have 
copied himself ; that therefore this circumstance much more favors the opinion that 
Clement used and imitated the epistle to the Hebrews. See more on this subject in 
P. Bleeck, Versuch einer vollstancligen Einleitung in den Brief an die Hebriier. Ber- 
lin, 1828; S. 410. 

3 Dissertatio de causis suppositorum Librorum inter Christianos. Seec. I. et II. in 
Diss, ad Hist. Eccles. pertinent, vol. i. p. 217 — ; etDiss.de turbata per recentiores 
Platonicos Ecclesia, ib. p. 85. 



352 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

of the Judaizing Christians, although he holds the observance of the cere- 
monial law to be obligatory only for the Jews, not for the Gentiles, that 
have become Christians. See Neander, in the reference already made. 
Hence it must necessarily have had for the author of those writings a 
high dogmatic interest, if Peter was actually a defender of the Judaizing 
Christianity ; and, since he had no doubt of this, he would not hesitate to 
represent him thus in a fictitious work. 

If, now, Clement was held to be the author of the work, this would 
have the more influence and respect, since he had been an immediate 
disciple of Peter and Paul, and associated with both. The fabricator, 
therefore, had no scruple to ascribe them to Clement ; and he did this 
the more readily, as, respecting the life of Clement himself, only few 
certain facts were known, and these very well permitted the belief that he 
had stood in a close connection with Peter. It comports with the char- 
acter of the circle of the pseudo- Clementine traditional writings, that, for 
the most part, all these writings had their origin in the East, and thence 
were spread abroad. Perhaps the reason why so many writings bear 
the name of Clement may be sought in this, that they arose in the East, 
where the less the historical Clement was known, the more easily a tra- 
dition respecting him might be constructed. 

"We see, therefore, how already, at the end of the second century, on 
account of dogmatic interest, pseudo- Clementine writings were clan- 
destinely introduced. Later, the hierarchal interest prevailed in the 
fabrication of Clementine writings. More and more appear under this 
name ; so that, in the end, the name of Clement becomes a collective 
and standing name for apocryphal writings. This we perceive also in 
the fact that the name of Clement is ascribed to our Constitutions. In 
the Constitutions themselves no cause for it was found ; since, as we have 
seen, only in one single place is there mention of the relation of Clem- 
ent as the bearer of the Constitutions ; which place, on that very account, 
might be called in question. The investigation also of the testimonies 
respecting the Constitutions has shown that first after the times of 
Epiphanius, when alteration and corruption had already been at work 
upon the Constitutions, the name of Clement occurs in them. But 
hence it may well be conjectured, that also first after the times of 
Epiphanius, the Constitutions were viewed as Clementine ; and this, not 
so much because they were believed to have come from Clement, as be- 
cause they belonged to the great circle of pseudo- Clementine writings. 
In the preparing of the Constitutions, there prevails, doubtless, the hie- 
rarchal interest. To promote this, the name of Clement must certainly 
have rendered good service, while it served directly to denote tradi- 
tional writings which had come down from age to age, and found the 



THEIR UNITY. 353 

best application in the Constitutions which instituted regulations for the 
whole sphere of the church and of the life. As these regulations now 
were given under the false name of the apostles, and this fraud was 
easily perceived, so it happened as it were of itself, without its being 
necessary to suppose a definite object, that the Constitutions were 
ascribed to Clement, that is, were reckoned in the circle of extant 
pseudo-Clementine writings. 



CHAPTER IV 



DETERMINATION OF THE ACE OF THE CONSTITUTIONS, AND INQUIRY 
RESPECTING- THE FIRST SEVEN BOOKS. 

On the opinion that the Constitutions are composed of parts which were 
once distinct works. 

In the historical representation of the opinions respecting the Consti- 
tutions, we have several times mentioned this opinion, and have endeav- 
ored to refute the arguments which were brought for its support. Here, 
therefore, we need only exhibit some arguments which perhaps could 
still be adduced to sustain it ; examine them more closely ; and set over 
against them the arguments which speak for the unity of the Constitu- 
tions, and can be pointed out, aside from the matters connected with that 
discussion. 

It has been asserted by some, that the ancient Constitutions were only 
a work of very small compass ; and there has been an effort to prove 
this by the testimony of Eusebius and Athanasius, and especially by the 
testimony of the librarian Anastasius. At a comparatively late period, 
it is said, our present Constitutions, which are of considerable compass, 
may have been formed by the melting down of the Instructions (didaxal) 
mentioned by Eusebius and Athanasius with the Constitution (didia^g) 
used by Epiphanius, and perhaps also with the work which Anastasius 
quotes. But — to pass over the fact that this view denies in the outset, 
without proof, the identity of the Constitutions of Eusebius and Athana- 
sius with those of Epiphanius — we see not on what the assumption rests, 
23 



354 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

that the Instructions of Eusebius and Athanasius were only of small 
compass. In the testimony itself, as our foregoing discussion must have 
shown (see p. 303), there is no ground for it ; and hence it seems 
arbitrary. Nor can the testimony of Anastasius speak for this view, as 
we have already shown (p. 306). Here we only add, that the testi- 
mony of Anastasius, in view of the Incomplete Work on Matthew, and of 
the Trullan canon, falls to the ground. The testimony of the Incomplete 
Work on Matthew has shown us, that, according to the highest probability, 
the eighth book of the Constitutions was then known ; that therefore the 
work must have had a considerable compass, if we bear in mind that the 
testimony of Epiphanius vouches for the existence of several other 
books of the Constitutions. It seems, too, as if the canon of the Trullan 
council would not have passed its decision on a little, insignificant work. 
Should it be said that it is still difficult to explain how Anastasius could 
adduce an Instruction of the Apostles (didax^i ?® v bnoaTdXav) of so small 
compass, we request attention to our explanation of the reading of 
Anastasius, and think it probable that he could still have known that 
abstract which Athanasius mentions, although it was lost at a later 
period, and has not come down to us. 

Perhaps some, however, might use a circumstance from the testimony 
of Epiphanius, in order to establish that view ; and hence we will in 
anticipation consider it more closely. Since Epiphanius quotes only 
from the first and the fifth book of the Constitutions, it might safely be 
inferred that only these two books had been known to him ; and since 
they were of no very great compass, this speaks in favor of the asser- 
tion, that the earlier Constitutions did not embrace much, and, first at a 
later period, were increased to the present extent by the addition of 
other Instructions. It is certainly true that Epiphanius quotes only 
from the first and the fifth book of the Constitutions. (The passages 
adduced by him are found b. i. c. 1 and 3; b. v. e. 17 and 19 ; b. v. 
c. 15 ; b. v. c. 20 ; b. v. c. 13, 15, 18, and 19.) But surely this is only 
an accidental circumstance, which can easily be explained from the fact 
that the fifth book, which treats concerning martyrs {jxeql //aoztfowr), con- 
tains more than the others that is appropriate to the use of Epiphanius. 
From the circumstance that a writer quotes only this or that book, but 
does not mention others, it would surely be unsafe to infer immediately 
that these other books were not extant in his time and known to him. 
But if we only consider the matter more exactly, we need not repel that 
general assertion by so general a counter-argument, which otherwise 
would here be in its place. 

It is certain, therefore, that Epiphanius was acquainted with the first 
and the fifth book of the Constitutions. Now, the first book treats of the 



THEIR UNITY. 855 

laity, and contains general moral precepts. The fifth book, on the con- 
trary, treats of the martyrs ; and then connects with these a copious enu- 
meration of the Christian festivals, and states why and how they are 
observed. But does this naturally cohere in any way with the first 
book? It is hardly conceivable that there was a work which embraced 
only two books of such contents, where between the books there was no 
relationship at all, no connection, no point of transition. And how 
came together two matters so heterogeneous, without the least percepti- 
ble connection ? But if we consider all the seven books as they stand 
together, we see their connection, as well in the general arrangement, as 
also in the particular parts which will be discussed in our subsequent 
investigations. The development of the plan of the Constitutions will 
show how it lay in the author's design to set up an authoritative stand- 
ard for the whole ecclesiastical life : He wished to impart precepts for 
all the members of the church, for laymen and clergy ; he wished to 
determine more closely all ecclesiastical relations, the position and the 
relation of the clergy to one another, in the control and management of 
the church ; he wished further to settle more exactly the ecclesiastical 
usages, explain their meaning, and promote their more strict observ- 
ance. 

After presenting, in the first book, some precepts for the laity, the 
author, in the second book, treats very copiously respecting the position 
and the duties of the bishops and the lower clergy. The third book 
determines the duties of the widows who then made a part of the clerical 
or spiritual community, fixes their ecclesiastical employments, and the 
duties of some of the lower clergy. The fourth book, which bears the 
general superscription 'concerning orphans,' defines their relation to 
the bishops, and then imparts precepts respecting oblations and other mat- 
ters, which are very suitably followed by what is contained in the fifth 
book. All coheres well ; and throughout we perceive a definite object, 
a judicious plan to give precepts and ordinances for the most multi- 
farious ramifications of ecclesiastical life. The sixth book, which is 
superscribed ' concerning schisms' (negi u/ia^fxiojv), speaks copiously on 
the multiplied separations and heresies in the church, and on the evils 
thence arising ; warns and admonishes, and gives directions respecting 
the heretics. And, finally, the seventh book embraces a multitude of 
directions, which, for the most part, have reference more to the inner 
ecclesiastical life. 

To all this it must be added, that Epiphanius most probably quotes a 
passage from the seventh book of our Constitutions, or, at least, had it 
in mind. We have, indeed, in presenting his testimony, passed over 
this citation, since in our Constitutions it is not found in so many words, 



356 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

but in very general terms. Epiphanius (Heres. lxxv. 6 *) mentions a 
precept of the Constitutions on the time of fasting, which is found nearly 
the same in our Constitutions, b. vii. c. 23. 2 In both places, fasting, on 
the fourth day (quarta feria) and on the sixth (the Preparation, naga- 
ojtevfi) is commanded. But while, in the passages of the fifth book, 
already presented (p. 314), the same directions in regard to fasting are 
given, we cannot well view the passage in b. vii. c. 23, as having been 
taken from Epiphanius. Certainly Epiphanius can have had this pas- 
sage also in his eye ; and then, if this were the case, it would be another 
evidence that the Constitutions known to Epiphanius were a work of 
no small extent. 

But what speaks most decidedly against the opinion that the Constitu- 
tions were only made up of many isolated pieces, is the whole form 
and style of the work. The canons have a form adapted to the 
notion of a law ; but it is not so with the Constitutions. These do not 
express their views briefly, decidedly, and categorically, in respect to 
practical life, even when they would pass for ordinances ; but they have 
more the form of a treatise. They move very heavily, and are over- 
burdened with quotations from the Holy Scriptures. This, in respect 
to the style of the Constitutions, is essentially characteristic, and distin- 
guishes it from the style of the canons, in which, on account of their 
brevity, this can have no place, as their whole nature would forbid their 
entering upon dogmatic proofs. The citing of the Holy Scriptures goes 
so farm the Constitutions, that not only long passages are quoted word 
for word, but even extended explanations of those passages are some- 
times given, and an application of them made to the subject under con- 
sideration. ' This circumstance, which in respect to the Constitutions is 
so characteristic, points essentially also to the unity of the whole work. 
Constituent parts from various sources would most probably exhibit 
variety in their manner, and would depart widely from each other in 
their form and style, and especially in the qualities of the latter ; so that 
these departures and varieties could not but be seen. If any one say 



1 E/ tie kcu XPV T b T W diaTa&uQ rwv utootoIuv leyeiv, 7T«c kitel upi&vro rerpiida ml 
?rpooa(3(3aTOv vrjareiav did, navrdc, X^pk nevTEnooTTjg. If, moreover, it is also necessary 
to mention that of the Constitution of the Apostles, how they there appointed the 
fourth day of the week (Wednesday) and the day before the Sabbath (Friday) a 
fast always, except Pentecost. 

2 At 6e vrjtjreZa v/xuv p,rj itarwoav fj.£Tci rdv VTroupbTibv vt]otevovgi yap devrepg, caftfia- 
tcjv Kal nefiTTTri • vfietc 6k tj Tac tcevte vrjOTEvoarE q/iepag, ?/ rerpa^a nal 7rapaGK.sv?)v. 
But let not your fasts be with the hypocrites ; for they fast on the second and the 
fifth day of the week. But do ye fast either the five days, or the fourth and the 
Preparation. 



THEIR AGE. 357 

that the compiler has, in respect to contents, form, and style, so melted 
down the Constitutions, that the work has become a whole, then the 
assertion that they consisted of parts from various sources would fall 
to ruin of itself, and become quite another, and be about equivalent 
to saying that their author has used and had in view much that was 
more ancient. This may be cheerfully conceded ; as, by this conces- 
sion, the unity of the Constitutions runs no more hazard than every 
writing in which what is more ancient is circumspectly regarded. 

If the former assertion were true, there would be traces of the put- 
ting together and arrangement. Varieties in the style must have shown 
themselves, and the form could not well have been one and the same 
throughout. Then, too, it would need to be explained why not a single 
testimony of the ancients has descended to us, confirming the assumption 
of various distinct pieces ; and not only will this explanation be difficult, 
if not altogether impossible to give, but we shall be obliged, besides, to 
venture the assertion that all these distinct writings and parts, from 
which the Constitutions must be put together, have, in their original 
form, been entirely lost, and that no account of them whatever has 
come down to us. 

Besides these general remarks on the unity of the work, we will 
further point out the connection in detail, where it shall be necessary. 



Determination of the Age of the Constitutions. 

We have pointed out how the name of the apostles in the Constitu- 
tions is to be considered ; have discussed what meaning the name Clem- 
ent has in the same production ; and have shown that the name, in either 
case, does not by any means denote the relation of the author to his 
work. But now the question could be started, Who, then, is the author 
of the Constitutions ? and we might believe that, as in other cases, here 
also historical criticism would give us the means of deciding. Yet the 
external and the internal conditions of the writing are of such a kind 
that this cannot be our task, and that we can scarcely make an attempt 
at it, if we do not wish to lose ourselves in an endless multitude of con- 
jectures, without ever reaching solid ground, and finding confirmation 
for the conjecture which we might propose. Beveridge's attempt, 
which we have mentioned (p. 276), is the only one which is hazarded 
respecting the author of the Constitutions. This, however, since it rests 



358 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

on a very isolated ground, and takes only a partial view, must of neces- 
sity fall out unhappily. So, too, must every other attempt have the 
greatest difficulty, since it can attach itself to nothing that is firmly 
established. We have, for instance, not the slightest intimation in the 
testimonies of the ancients respecting the true author of the Consti- 
tutions; for all the testimonies respecting that work name only the 
apostles and Clement. To argue from internal evidence is doubly diffi- 
cult in a writing which wishes to represent a false age, and in whose 
plan it lies to substitute artfully a false author instead of the true one. 

From the external testimonies respecting the Constitutions, and from 
the internal evidence, it will, on the contrary, be possible for us to 
point out their age in the most exact and careful manner. Yes, we 
will endeavor to determine the age of the Constitutions, at least ap- 
proximately, up to the difference of a few years, and point out their 
origin as necessarily falling in this or that time. This, however difficult 
it may be, will be a possible task of criticism ; while, on the contrary, 
in the attempt to determine who the author was, there is no historical 
and positive basis. Besides, the Constitutions can also have had an 
entirely unknown author, who, moreover, as it is usually done in a 
forged work, applied the greatest care to conceal the fraud (which other- 
wise might be well intended), and to attain his object. What is the 
most important of all, in this matter, is to settle firmly the age of the 
Constitutions, and exhibit the proper evidence. 

While, however, it is our wish to determine the age of the Constitu- 
tions, we separate the first seven books, which, by themselves, make out 
a whole, from the eighth book, which, according to the highest proba- 
bility, arose later, and then was added to the first seven. In the eighth 
book, much is copiously repeated, which had already been handled in 
the preceding books. The form of the Constitutions, and their style in 
the eighth book, are entirely different from what is found in the seven. 
It is manifest that the greatest part of the eighth book consists of litur- 
gical formularies, and that all the objects occurring in it point to a 
later age. We now assume in the way of anticipation, that the age of 
the seven books is different from that of the eighth ; and, in the investi- 
gation respecting the eighth, we will furnish ample proof that it is 
different. 

Wo enter now upon the following course : — We state briefly in the 
outset the result of our inquiry ; and then point it out, step by step, and 
endeavor to vindicate it amply, in the investigations respecting each 
individual book. 

Our discussion of the external testimonies respecting the Constitutions 
lias shown that Eusebius, Athanasius, and Epiphanius, can be admitted 



THEIR AGE. 359 

as vouchers, that already during the whole fourth century the Constitu- 
tions had been extant and known. This is, therefore, for us a fixed 
historical point, and we shall be obliged to seek the age of the Con- 
stitutions before that time. Indeed their first seven books contain 
nothing which we might be obliged to consider as belonging to a later 
time, if we except a few interpolations, which were made after the 
time of Epiphanius, and which we will point out in an investigation 
devoted to that subject. As these are not very considerable and ex- 
tensive, we pass over them here. They can have no influence upon 
the determination of the age. The external testimonies constrain 
us, therefore, to seek for the origin of the work before the fourth cen- 
tury ; and with this all the internal evidences agree. Now, in refer- 
ence to the contents, the Constitutions bear on themselves the clearest 
impress that they must have arisen towards the end of the third century. 
Their whole contents testify to this most strikingly. The form of their 
public divine service ; their whole ritual and disciplinary institution, 
which they bring before us ; the state of their teachers and servants of 
the church ; finally, the whole plan and object for which the Constitu- 
tions seem to have arisen, are so many proofs in favor of our assertion. 
The whole internal and external form of the church, as it presents itself 
in these writings, we find again in the third century ; and the agree- 
ment is so great, that it can be pointed out even in the most inconsider- 
able things. But there is another circumstance which very much facili- 
tates the determining of the age of the Constitutions. They evidently 
bear, in a high degree, the impress of the age of Cyprian, and have pro- 
ceeded entirely from the spirit and aim which Cyprian had. The idea 
of the unity of the church, the notion of the excessive regard for bish- 
ops, is also the basis of our Constitutions. We shall be able to follow 
the agreement with the ideas and views of Cyprian, even in the minutest 
parts of the government of the church. It will also not be difficult for 
us to exhibit the agreement of our Constitutions with some few writers 
who flourished in the middle and towards the end of the third century. 
But, since Cyprian was not acquainted with them, and no writer of that 
age mentions them, we must assume, that in the time of Cyprian, the Con- 
stitutions were not extant. For had they been extant, it cannot be sup- 
posed that they would not have been used in the numerous contentions, 
for example, respecting the reception of those who had fallen away (the 
lapsi), and on many other occasions. This permits us to conclude, that 
they arose not long after Cyprian, towards the end of the third century, 
in some oriental church ; and that they proceeded from an author who 
had adopted the principles and ideas of Cyprian, and wished to transmit 
them perpetually to the oriental church. As we have now established 



360 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

the end of the third century for the age of the first seven books ; so, for 
the age of the eighth book, we name the end of the fourth, or, at the 
most, the beginning of the fifth century, in favor of which speaks the 
external testimony of the Incomplete Work on Matthew, which, how- 
ever, we will prove chiefly by a thorough comparison with Chrysostom. 



Investigation on the First Boole of the Constitutions. 

It is superscribed concerning the laity {jtegl la'ix&v} ; and, among all 
the eight books of the Constitutions, it is of the smallest extent. It con- 
tains ten chapters, which, for the most part, are occupied in giving moral 
precepts, and often refer to passages of Scripture. Since these moral 
and disciplinary rules are quite commonly held, only a little can be 
brought from this book indicating the age of the Constitutions. Still it 
contains one thing, from which perhaps we might argue. 

After warning has been given against covetousness, revenge, and love 
of pomp, and Christians have been exhorted to industry and to the 
reading of the Scriptures, the reading of all heathen books is forbidden, 
(c. 6) : — ' Abstain from all heathen books. For what hast thou to do 
with such foreign discourses, or laws, or false prophets, that turn aside 
the unstable from the faith ? ' ' If a man wishes to read historical books, 
he has,' thinks the author of the Constitutions, ' the books of the Kings ; 
or poetic, he has the Prophets, Job, and the Proverbs ; or lyric, he has 
the Psalms.' Hence, it is concluded, he must abstain entirely from the 
reading of all heathen books. 1 The Constitutions express themselves still 
more strongly in b. ii. c. 61 : — * But why wilt thou be a partaker of 
heathen oracles, which are nothing but dead men, declaring, by the 
inspiration of the devil, deadly things, and such as are subversive of the 
faith, and draw away to polytheism those that attend to them ? ' 

From this perhaps we might borrow an argument, though not with 
full assurance, as, in the outset, we ought cheerfully to concede. At an 
earlier period, to be sure, the question had been discussed among the 
Christians, whether a man may venture to read the writings of the 
heathen ; yet the contest had never been carried on more zealously than 
about the middle of the third century. Clement of Alexandria (lib. i. 
Operis varie contexti), Tertullian (De Idololatria, c. 10), and Origen 



1 Compare Rosenmiiller, Historia Interpretations Librorum Sacrorum, lib. i. c. ii. 
p. 121. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FIKST BOOK. 361 

(Philocalia, c. 13), had declared themselves in favor of reading heathen 
authors. Origen especially prosecuted the study of heathen literature 
very zealously ; and even heathen writers acknowledged that he was 
highly distinguished in these studies. 1 But this predilection for Greek 
science was offensive to not a few ; and Origen found it necessary to 
defend himself in a letter against those who disapproved studies of this 
kind. Hence it is possible that the author of the Constitutions had 
respect to these contentions, and declared himself with so much decision 
against the reading of heathen books, especially because the most influ- 
ential men stood on the side of the otl.er opinion. Towards the 
end of the sixth chapter and in the whole of the ninth, the Constitu- 
tions are zealous against the shameful custom of men and women's 
bathing themselves together, and using the same bathing-tub. 2 The 
custom seems to have been pretty general and prevalent. In the same 
manner, Clement of Alexandria (Paedagogus, lib. iii. c. 5) censures 
it most earnestly, and points out the great moral corruption which 
must necessarily arise from it; and, in c. 9, he states the causes on 
account of which only, bathing could be permitted. How very much 
that custom, however, prevailed in the middle of the third century, is 
evident from the censure and the admonitions which are found also in 
several passages of Cyprian. 3 Hence we make no false conclusion, if 
we say that, since the author of the Constitutions also felt the necessity 
of contending against the same indecorum, he probably wrote either in 
the same time or in one only somewhat later. 

In b. i. c. 8, and b. ii. c. 57, the Constitutions enjoin it on female 
Christians to cover the head, when in the street, and by a veil to con- 
ceal themselves from the inquisitive. Now if the account were to be 
relied on, which George Cedrenus relates to us, that the emperor De- 

1 Euseb. Eccles. Hist. b. vi. c. 18 : Whence also he considered the studies of 
political and philosophical matters particularly necessary for himself. And c. xix. : 
Let these, therefore, suffice to evince both the calumnies of the false accuser, and also 
the great proficiency of Origen in the branches of Grecian literature. Kespecting 
which, defending himself against some who censured him for devoting so much study 
to Jhose pursuits, he writes thus in a certain epistle. 

8 C. 6 : Moreover, when thou walkest abroad, and hast a mind to bathe, make use 
of that bath which is appropriated to men. C. 9 : Of a woman's not bathing with 
men : — Avoid also that disorderly practice of bathing in the same place with men ; 
for many are the nets of the evil one. 

3 De Disciplina et Hahitu Virginum, near the end. Quid vero, quae promiscuas 
balneas adeant, quae oculis ad libidinem cuviosis, pudori ac pudicitise corpora dicata 
prostituunt, qu£e quum viros, atque a viris nudce, videant turpiter, ac videntur, 
nonne ipsa illecebram vitiis prrcstant ? Nonne ad corruptelam et injuriam suam 
desideria proesentium sollicitant et invitant ? 



362 ESSAY ON TIIE CONSTITUTIONS. 

cius [A.D. 249] by an edict forbade Christian women to cover the head, 
we might from this infer that the Constitutions bring to remembrance 
anew the command of the apostle Paul (1 Cor. 11) ; just because, at the 
time of their being written, this custom was, through the edict of De- 
cius, in danger of being entirely done away. On the relation of this 
book to the other books of the Constitutions, and whence it comes that 
hardly any criterion is found in this book for determining the age of the 
Constitutions, we shall present some considerations in a subsequent part 
of our discussion. 



Investigation on the Second Booh of the Constitutions. 

There are two ideas and views, in particular, which are found in this 
-book, and from which especially we can borrow proofs for the opinion 
already stated respecting the time when the Constitutions came into 
existence. The first view consists in this, that extraordinary authority, 
exalting itself over every thing, is ascribed to the bishops ; that the sal- 
vation of the church depends on this high position of the bishops ; and 
that, without the bishops as such, we can have no conception of a church. 
As the carrying-out of this idea lay in the plan of the Constitutions, so, 
further oh, when we unfold it more, we shall also point to the middle 
and the end of the third century as the time when it acquired in the 
church peculiar power. 

The second view, which is expressed in many chapters of this 
book, is the milder opinion in respect to receiving again into church- 
fellowship the penitents, and such as had fallen away. Here all bears 
the impress, that these regulations were written towards the end of the 
third century. They themselves suppose oppositions and different 
opinions, and seek to combat these by arguments and examples from the 
Holy Scriptures. "We see clearly that the spread of this view lies at 
the heart of the writer. He treats the theme very copiously, even so 
as to become quite prolix, and returns to it again and again. 

Admonitions and commands are directed especially to the Bishops, not 
to make themselves unworthy of their high office by unchristian rigor. 
This subject is presented particularly in c. 12, 14, 1G, 24, 38, 41, and 
55; and more or less in c. 13, 15, 19, 21, 22, and 23. It is certain 
that all these precepts are directed against the rigor which at the time 
when the Constitutions were made, was exercised towards the penitents, 
and such as had fallen away. Thus it is said in c. 14 : i Receive there- 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SECOND BOOK. 863 

fore him that repenteth, without any doubting. Be not hindered by 
those who unmercifully say that we must not be denied with such, nor 
so much as speak to them ; for such advice is from men that are unac- 
quainted with God and his providence, but are unreasonable judges and 
unmerciful beasts ; for they are ignorant that we ought to avoid society 
with offenders, not in discourse, but in actions.' ' We ought not there- 
fore to hearken to those who are constantly inclined to kill, and hate 
mankind, and love accusations, and, under fair pretences, bring men to 
death.' From these and similar pas nges, we must infer that the 
violence of the controversy respecting the manner in which the dis- 
cipline of the church ought to be administered had risen to the highest ; 
and the strong and everywhere purposely inserted polemics on this 
point warrant the inference, that this controversy had already become 
general. In this matter, too, the Constitutions express entirely Cyp- 
rian's view, which, soon after the Novatian controversies, became the 
general one. Here, of course, only Cyprian's later opinion on this sub- 
ject can be meant ; for it is well known, that, after he had made many a 
painful and bitter experiment, a great change occurred in his principles. 
The Constitutions now represent entirely that milder opinion which 
he embraced at the later period. But the polemics which are di- 
rected against that dark, lowering view, lead us to conclude that all 
these regulations which make a large part of this second book, and in 
themselves are all connected together, were given in reference to the 
Novatian controversies, which at that time exerted considerable influ- 
ence on the whole Christian church, even that of the East. We will, in 
a short sketch, bring before ourselves that time, so that we may the bet- 
ter understand how it corresponds with our Constitutions. 

Down to that time there were no firmly established rules on the mat- 
ter of penance in its ecclesiastical relations ; and there was no canon 
acknowledged by the church generally, as having authority, so as to 
restrain the arbitrary administration of church discipline. At first, 
Cyprian was attached to the stricter view in respect to the discipline of 
penitents ; and this arose from his education, and the manner in which 
he contemplated ecclesiastical life. By the zealous study of Tertullian, 1 
whose influence had been great in the formation of his character, Cyp- 
rian had adopted many a Montanist view ; and it was very natural that 



1 It might be objected that these clashing opinions were in the church at a much 
earlier day; that, especially, the Montanist heresy called forth these contests ; and that 
Tertullian was very severe with the penitents. But still, even Tertullian would not 
have them excluded for ever ; and. at all events, there were not in his time such violent 
collisions and contests as those which we must infer from the Constitutions. 



364 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

the man who acknowledged no salvation out of the church, and even out 
of the external church, must also have held the falling away from that 
church to be a crime for which it would be difficult to make expiation. 1 
Still the many external and internal sufferings which came upon him in 
consequence of the schism of Felicissimus, and his own deep-feeling 
heart, paternally disposed towards the penitent, induced him to accede 
to the milder view, and to receive again into church-fellowship those 
who had manifested true repentance. Our Constitutions, however, may 
have in view, not so much these controversies, as the Novatian ; for, 
while the schism in the North African church proceeded from the laxer 
party, the Novatian controversies were excited by the stricter party, 
against which our Constitutions speak. These controversies, too, were 
more violent than those in the North African church ; and they extended 
themselves wider, and exerted their influence everywhere. Still the 
milder party was the most numerous, and finally gained the victory by 
the firm union of Cyprian and the Roman bishop Cornelius. 

In the penance-discipline, now, our Constitutions laid down, in the 
outset, the principle, that he who exercises true repentance ought to be 
received again into church-fellowship. Thus it is said in c. 13: 'In 
the first place, therefore, condemn the guilty person with authority ; 
afterwards try to bring him home with mercy and compassion, and 
readiness to receive him, promising him salvation, if he will change his 
course of life, and come to repentance ; and when he is penitent, do 
thou, with thoughtfulness and solemnity, receive him, remembering the 
Lord who hath said that there is joy in heaven over one sinner that 
repenteth.' 2 Cyprian also judged in the same manner. The 15th and 
16th chapters express the same; where, however, caution in receiving 
persons a second time is commended. 3 Still nothing is said in favor 



1 De Testimoniis, lib. iii. c. 28. Non posse in ecclesia remitti ei, qui in Deum 
deliquerit, in Evangelic* Kara Matthseum : Qui dixerit verbum adversus filium homi- 
nis, remittatur illi; qui autem dixerit adversus Spiritura Sanct v.r, non remittet ir illi 
neque in isto sseculo, neque in future Item Kara Marcum : Omnia peecata remitten- 
tur fillip hominum et blasphemiae : qui autem blasphemaverit in Spiritum Sanctum, non 
remittatur illi, sed reus erit seterni peccati. De hoc ipso in Baatkeiiiv primo : Si dclin- 
quendo peccet vir adversus virum, orabunt pro eo dominum, si autum in Dciun peccet 
homo, quis orabit pro eo ? 

2 Cyprian, Epist. 53. Quos utique ad pcenitentiam Dominus non liortaretur, nisi 
quia pcenitentibus indulgentiam pollicetur. Et in Evangelio : Dico, inquit, vobis, 
sic erit gaudium in ccelo super uno peccatore pcenitentiam agente quam super nona- 
ginta novem justis, quibus non est opus punitentia\. &c 

3 And if upon examination tbou findest that be is penitent and fit to be received 
fully into the church, when thou hast afflicted him his days of fasting, according to 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SECOND BOOK. 365 

of that laxity -which would receive every one. 1 A mode of arguing 
precisely similar to that in the Constitutions, c. 20, is found in Cyprian. 
The following admonition in c. 20 is given to the bishop : — ' Seek 
that which is wanting, as the Lord God our gracious Father hath sent 
his own Son, the good Shepherd and Savior, our Master Jesus, and 
hath commanded him to leave the ninety and nine upon the mountains, 
and go in search after that which was lost, and, when he found it, to 
take it upon his shoulders, and to carry it into the flock, rejoicing that he 
had found that which was lost. In like manner, do thou, O bishop, be 
obedient, seeking that which is lost, setting right that which hath wan- 
dered, bringing back that which is gone astray.' In the day of judg- 
ment, says Cyprian, it will be laid to our charge that we have not cared 
for the diseased sheep. 2 It is indeed true, that in these passages the 
verbal similarity rests only on the using of the Scripture expressions in 
Matt. 18 and Luke 15 : still there certainly prevails in the whole fifty- 
second epistle which Cyprian wrote to Antonian respecting Cornelius 
and Novatian, the same mild view of ecclesiastical discipline in regard 
to the penitents. In like manner as Cyprian, the Constitutions, to 
establish the correctness of their view, adduce the consideration that 
those who are thrust from the church would betake themselves, in 
despair, to the heathen, or become entangled in heresies, or entirely 
estranged from the church and from hope in God. 3 Then, in c. 22, 
examples from the Old Testament are presented, how God also, upon true 
repentance, has forgiven ; but, on the other hand, in c. 23, Amon is 
mentioned as a terrifying example. With all mildness in the view 
respecting the penance-discipline, there still prevails a very strict moral 
spirit, which, in case of necessity, does not omit to apply even the most 



the degree of his offence, two, three, five, or seven weeks : so set him at liherty, speak- 
ing such things to him as are suitable to be said in way of reproof, instruction, and 
exhortation to a sinner for his reformation. 

1 C. 17. So one scabby sheep, if not separated from those that are whole, infecteth 
the rest with the same distemper ; and a man infected by the plague is to be avoided 
by all men, and a mad dog is dangerous to every one that he toucheth. If, therefore, 
we neglect to separate the transgressor from the church of God, we shall make the 
Lord's house a den of thieves. 

2 Cypriani Epist. 52. Adscribetur nobis in die judicii, nee ovem sauciam curasse, 
et propter unam sauciam multas integras perdidisse. Et cum Dominus relictis nona- 
gintu novem sanis unam errantem et lassam quaesierit, et juventam humeris suis ipse 
portaverit, &c. 

3 Cypriani Epist. 52. Quorum si pcenitentiam respuamus habendum aliquam 
fiduciam tolcrabilis conscientia?, statim cum uxore, cum liberis, quos incolumes reser- 
vaverant, in hoeresin vel schisma diabolo invitante rapiuntur. Compare Constitut. 
b. ii. c. 21. He also who is separated unjustly by thy want of care in judging, &c. 



366 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

rigorous means. Thus, in c. 41, it is said : ' But if thou seest any one 
past repentance, and he hath become insensible, then, with sorrow and 
lamentation, cut off from the church the incurable/ 

It could be said, that in all these regulations, there is no specific refer- 
ence to the Novatian controversies, nor any mention of them by name. 
In judging of this circumstance, however, we must not forget that the 
author of the Constitutions wished to feign the apostolic time ; that hence 
he was obliged to avoid carefully every thing definite, and treat the mat- 
ter in a general way. Besides, it has not been asserted at all, that these 
regulations had their origin exactly at the time of the Novatian contro- 
versies ; but what has been asserted is only, that, in the regulations, 
these controversies seem to have been borne in mind. They can rather 
have arisen soon after the Novatian controversies, when the view 
respecting ecclesiastical penance-discipline began to become generally 
more mild. Besides, in order to oppose, in the way of anticipation, an 
objection which may possibly arise, we remark that these different views 
found place in the whole church, and these oppositions had come to be 
spoken of also in the East. There was generally in the East an attach- 
ment to the milder view ; and this fact speaks in favor of our opinion 
in reference to the Constitutions. That this view prevailed in the East, 
we see, among other evidences, from an epistle of Dionysius of Alex- 
andria, which he, when Novatian sought to win him over to his party, 
wrote to Dionysius of Rome. "With good reason, says he, we abhor 
Novatian, since he divides the church, and draws away some of the 
brethren to ungodliness and blasphemy, since he advances a malicious 
doctrine concerning God, and calumniates the most gracious Lord Jesus 
Christ as being destitute of compassion. 1 

Generally speaking, all the subordinate conditions which the Consti- 
tutions establish for the reception of the penitents, and all the formal 
usages which according to the Constitutions ought to be employed on 
such an occasion, are found also in Cyprian and those who followed the 
milder view. To the bishop is ascribed the right to receive the peni- 
tents into communion, while the whole church prays for them. 2 Cyp- 
rian also mentions the same thing. 3 The act of readmission is performed 
chiefly by the laying on of hands (manuum impositio). Thus in the 



1 Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. b. vii. c. S. 

2 Const, b. ii. c. 18. And when with tears the offender beggeth readmission, receive 
him, the whole church praying for him ; and when, by imposition of thy hand, thou 
hast admitted him, give him leave to ahide afterwards in the flock. 

;i Epist. 55 ad Cornclium. si posses, frater carissnne. istic interessc nobiscuru, 
cum pravi isti et perversi de schismata revertuntur, &c. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SECOND BOOK. 367 

Constitutions, b. ii. c. 18, 41, and 43. Bingham mentions this also 
among the ceremonies in the reception of the penitents, and adduces for 
proof the 15th canon of the council at Agatha; 1 yet this rite is much 
more ancient, and is found expressly in Cyprian. 2 

We here pass over the development of the Jewish theocratic ideas 
which are found especially in c. 25, since we shall, further on, show the 
remarkable agreement of the Constitutions with Cyprian also in this 
respect. Altogether conformably to the Jewish theocracy, referring to 
it, and setting it up as an example, they assert here that to the priesthood 
belong the first-fruits and the tithes ; and then they discuss the question 
copiously in what manner the bishop may be able to make appropria- 
tions from these to himself, as well as to distribute to others. 3 The 
whole argumentation is brought from the Old Testament, and especially 
from the idea of the Levitical priesthood. Then the bishop is com- 
manded to distribute aright the revenues of the church to the widows 
and the needy. The right is briefly conceded to the bishop to divide 
the revenues of the church, according to his judgment, to all who have 
need. Here it is natural to recollect that it was exactly the exercise of 
this right that occasioned the controversies and schisms between Cyp- 
rian and Felicissimus. Cyprian had in view a church visitation, and 
wished to support the poor of his church from the church treasury. 
But the party of the presbyters opposed itself to this design, and 
denied that the right devolved on Cyprian as bishop, all alone, to dis- 
tribute the revenues of the church. Before Cyprian we see no bishop, 
alone and without limitation, exercise this right. He, on the contrary, 
states definitely, that the bishop has to distribute the revenues of the 
church. 4 This also coincides exactly with the other views of Cyprian, 
who wished to recognize only in the bishop, and in no other, the true 
representation of the church. 



1 Concil. Agath. (A.D. 506) Can. xv. Poenitentes tempore, quo poenitentiam 
petunt. irapositionem manuum et ciliciurn super caput a sacerdote consequantur. 

2 Epist. 9. Nam cum in minoribus peccatis agent peccatores poenitentiam justo 
tempore et secundum discipline ordincm ad exomologesin veniant, et per manus 
impositionem episcopi et cleri jus communicationis accipiant; nunc crudo tempore, 
persecutione adhuc persevcrante, nondum restituta ecclesia ipsius pace, ad communi- 
cationem admittentur ct offertur nomen eorum, et nondum pcenitentia acta, nondum 
exomologesi facta, nondum manu eis ab episcopo et clero imposita, Eucharistia illis datur. 

3 The superscription of c. 25 is, Concerning first-fruits and tithes, and how the 
bishop ought either himself to partake of them ; or to distribute to others. Compare 
b. ii. c 26, 34, and 35. 

4 Cypriani Epist. 38. Ut cum ecclesia matre remanerent, et stipendia ejus episcopo 
dispensante perciperent. 



368 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Should any one think it right here to object, that all this is mere 
conjecture, which has no firm support in the Constitutions themselves, 
it may be cheerfully conceded that all this consists of details which 
indeed often seem somewhat adventurously combined ; but, on the other 
side, it ought to be considered that, while a multitude of such details 
are found here, they mutually sustain themselves, and strengthen each 
otherwise isolated argument. If many indications and arguments in a 
writing speak in favor of an age, each small trace must be carefully 
considered, in order, where it is possible, to set forth for our inspection 
the picture of an age as existing in such a writing. In favor of our 
conjecture thus carried out, there is still another very essential circum- 
stance : In the same chapter there are named expressly the inferior 
ranks of those who participated in the clerical character (minores ordi- 
nes) ; and among these the readers (ol tipayustio-xovTsg, lectores), the sing- 
ers (ol &dol } cantores), and the door-keepers (ol ttvXmqoI, ostiarii), are 
mentioned. They all occur again in b. iii. c. II, 1 where, besides, men- 
tion is made of players on stringed instruments (ip a I rca, psaltes). Among 
these classes of persons, that of the readers, it is probable, was the most 
ancient. Tertullian (De Prescript. Hseret. c. 41) is the first who men- 
tions it. All the other offices which are here named occur about the 
middle of the third century ; and, indeed, first of all in an epistle of the 
Roman bishop Cornelius (A.D. 252) to Fabius, bishop of Antioch. 
This, in part, is preserved by Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, 
b. vi. c. 43, where also acolytes (axolovdoi) and exorcists (Isoqxiotui) 
are mentioned. The former are not found in the Constitutions, but the 
latter in b. viii. c. 26. The mention of these minor orders, as these 
offices were designated at a late period, speaks therefore, it is manifest, 
in favor of the time which we have assigned to the Constitutions ; while 
there is found no testimony respecting them earlier than that of Corne- 
lius. If the opinion of Cotelerius 2 is well founded, which assumes that ? 
in the adduced passages of the Constitutions, subdeacons are to be 
understood as intended by the term ministers (tinrjokTaig, b. iii. c. 11), it 
ou<*ht here to be specially remarked, that, out of our Constitutions, the 
subdeacons occur first in Cyprian. 3 



1 ' Nay, further, we do not permit to the rest of the clergy to baptize ; as, for instance, 
either to Readers, or Singers, or Porters, or Ministers, but only to the Bishops and 
Presbyters, yet so that the Deacons are to minister to them therein.' They are men- 
tioned also in b. ii. c. 28 and 57, and in b. vi. c. 17, and in several places of b. viii. 
Secc. 8, 19,21, 22, and 28. 

2 Ad lib. ii. c. 28, n. 6. 

3 Epist. 24, 28, 78, 79, and 80. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SECOND BOOK. 369 

AVe proceed now to connect with the proof already exhibited some 
additional considerations to establish our conjecture; fore. 31 and c. 32 
afford us the means. These two chapters discuss more particularly the 
relation in which the deacon stands to his bishop in the distribution of 
the church-money for the support of the poor and needy. Chapter 31 
commands, ' Let him not do any thing at all without his bishop, nor 
give any thing without his consent. For if he give to any one as to a 
person in distress, without the bishop's knowledge, he will give it so that 
it must tend to the reproach of the bishop, and will accuse him as care- 
less of the distressed.' (See also b. iii. c. Id.) From this, and from 
what is said in the following chapter, we are authorized to conclude that 
the deacon must have had under himself a part at least of the church 
funds ; for, otherwise, it could not be possible for him to support mem- 
bers without the previous knowledge of the bishop. But now it is evi- 
dent from the controversies of Cyprian and Felicissimus, that the 
deacons then actually managed a part of the church money, 1 as then 
these very controversies were waged precisely on the point that the 
deacon, without the bishop, wished to provide for the wants of the poor 
belonging to his church. The Constitutions decide in favor of the 
bishop, and inculcate on the deacon never to do any thing without the 
consent of the bishop. Besides, when it is now manifest from c. 32, 
that the deacon might not do this, lest he should awaken against the 
bishop some murmuring and uneasiness, 2 should we not be justified in 
finding in this, a reference to those controversies, or to others of that 
kind, which certainly were not infrequent, as the relation of the deacon 
to the bishop began at that time to be formed ? 

Their mild view respecting the penance-discipline the Constitutions 
set forth clearly in this also, that they would have the penitents, by the 
readmission, return entirely to their former relations. The imposition 
of hands by which the penitents are readmitted into the communion of 
the believing, they consider as a second baptism. 3 The Constitutions 



1 Cypriani Epist. 49. Nicostratum vero diacono sanetaj administrationis amisso, 
ecclesiasticis pecuniis sacrilega fraude subtracts, viduarum ac pupillorum depositis 
negatis, non tarn in Africam venire voluisse quam conscientia rapinarum ac criminum 
nefandorum illinc ab urbe fugisse. 

2 If, therefore, deacon, thou knowest any one to be in distress, put the bishop in 
mind, and so give ; but do nothing in a clandestine way. to his reproach, lest thou raise 
a murmur against him. For the murmur will not be against him, but against the 
Lord God. 

3 C. 41. Do thou, therefore. bishop, act in the same manner; and as thou reeciv- 
est a heathen, after thou hast instructed and baptized him. so do thou let all join in 
prayers for this man. and restore him by imposition of hands to his ancient place 

24 



370 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

argue that God not only forgives the penitents, but receives them 
again into their former state. As a proof of this assertion, they adduce 
David after the offence committed against Uriah. The same view is 
expressed by Cyprian ; that those who through higher virtue with the 
help of the Lord had done away and obliterated their former misconduct, 
should also return into their former relations. 1 

Some have wished to prove from c. 47, that the Constitutions could 
not have arisen before the times of the Christian emperors. There a 
standing tribunal, as it were, is ascribed to the bishop. 2 Now from 
this, it may seem that all controversies must have been adjusted before 
the tribunal and court of the bishop ; and since a definite day is estab- 
lished for the administration of justice, all this may point to the regular 
judicial proceeding ordained under the Christian emperors. But this 
proof is quite untenable. It is ascertained that the Christians, from 
the earliest times (in accordance with the urgent exhortation in 1 Cor. 
6), decided their controversies among themselves, and did not resort to 
the tribunals of the unbelievers. Bishops and presbyters, at an early 
period, exercised the customary right of settling controversies; and 
it cannot be denied, that the bishops, already before the time of the 
Christian emperors, with the assistance of the other clergy, exercised a 
certain regulated administration of justice. A man needs only look 
back to c. 45 and 46, in order to perceive that this explanation is the 
more correct one. 3 In both chapters the Christians are emphatically 
admonished not to have recourse to the tribunals of the heathen for the 
decision of dissensions. Besides, Christians might not use the testimony 
of the unbelievers against one another, and forsake the decision of their 
prelates. 

Here we will not neglect to mention that, in c. 55, James, the brother 



among the flock, as one purified by repentance : and that imposition of hands shall 
be to him instead of baptism. 

1 Cypriani Epist. 19 ad Caldonium. Cum ergo abluerint omne delictum, jacere 
ultra sub diabolo quasi prostrati non debent ; qui extorres facti et bonis suis omnibus 
spoliati erexerant se, et cum Christo stare cceperunt. Atque utinam sic et caeteri post 
lapsum pcenitentes in pristinum statum reformantur. 

2 Let your judicatures be held on the second day of the week, that if any contro- 
versy arise about your sentence, having an interval till the Sabbath, you may be able 
to set the controversy right, and, against the Lord's day, bring those to peace who are 
at variance with each other. Let also the deacons and presbyters be present at your 
judicatures, &c. 

3 B. ii. c. 45. And let it not come before a heathen tribunal. Nay, indeed, ye are 
not to permit that the rulers of this world should pass sentence against our people. 
C. 46 (in the caption) : That the believers ought not to go to law before the unbeliev- 
ers, nor to call any one of them to bear testimony against Christians. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SECOND BOOK. 371 

of our Lord, and first bishop of Jerusalem, is not reckoned as one of 
the apostles. It is there said, ' We therefore who have been accounted 
worthy to be witnesses of his appearance, together with James the 
brother of the Lord, and the seventy-two other disciples, and his seven 
deacons.' The apostles, therefore, exclude from themselves James, the 
Lord's brother ; for he is not included in the pronoun we. The Consti- 
tutions now enumerate three Jameses, two apostles (the son of Zebedee 
and the son of Alpheus), and, besides these, the brother of the Lord. 
The Latins acknowledge only two, the son of Zebedee and the son of 
Alpheus, which latter person they hold to be one and the same with 
James the Lord's brother, who perhaps was a kinsman of the Lord 
Also in modern times some have begun, with the sacrifice of the 
accounts in Gal. 1 : 19, and c. 2 : 9 ; Matt. 13 : 55, and Mark 6 : 3, to 
admit only two Jameses ; — still, as I believe, without sufficient ground . 
All antiquity is against it. The more ancient Greeks distinguished 
James the brother of the Lord from James the son of Alpheus. Thus 
Clement of Alexandria, in the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius, b. ii. 
c. 1 ; 1 and Hegesippus, in the same History, b. ii. c. 23. 2 Also in 
the Ethiopian church, which holds our Constitutions to be holy, the 
opinion of these writers prevailed. These oriental churches univer- 
sally ascribed to the Constitutions a special value ; and it is certainly 
very remarkable that there is an Arabic and a Syriac translation of the 
Constitutions. 3 

From the circumstance that, in c. 57 and 59, church edifices of the 
Christians are mentioned, some have inferred that we could not place 
the Constitutions in the end of the third century, since Christian church - 
edifices were built first in the time of Constantine. But this argument 
is quite false ; for it is a point established that there had already been 
many Christian church-edifices at an earlier period. They occur under 
the name places of prayer (ngooreuxTrigia), Lord's house (y.vgiaxdr, 
dominicum), house of the church (ofoog Zxy.Xrjoiag'), and church (ixxlijofrA. 
The first Christian house of worship we find at Edessa, in the beginning 



1 Clement, in the sixth book of his Institutions, represents it thus : Peter, and 
James, and John, after the ascension of our Saviour, though they had been preferred by 
our Lord, did not contend for the honor, but ch^pe James the Just as bishop of Jeru- 
salem. 

2 But James, the brother of tbe Lord, who was named the Just by all, from the days 
of our Lord until now, received the government of the church with the apostles. 

3 Eespecting this, J. E. Grabe has treated in his work entitled, An Essay upon two 
Arabic MSS. in tbe Bodleian Library (comp. also Acta Erudit. ann. 1712, p. 204-207). 
Still he has not been able to establish any thing definite respecting the age and the 
use of these translations. 



372 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

of the third century. According to the chronicle of Edessa, it was 
destroyed by an inundation in the year 202. 1 Especially was the 
number of Christian church-edifices very much increased already in the 
middle of the third century ; as we may see particularly from the fact 
that, in the Decian persecution, a great multitude of them were de- 
stroyed. 2 

As we have referred to this proof, we cannot but add that we regard 
c. 57 and 59 as a later interpolation. Both chapters are entirely unsuita- 
ble to the connection. By their heterogeneousness they suddenly interrupt 
the whole ; and by their contents, which agree altogether with the contents 
of some passages in the eighth book, and point quite clearly to the end 
of the fourth century, they show that both chapters emanated from the 
author of the eighth book. We pass over the evidence at present, but 
will furnish it copiously in the statement of the interpolations. 

Here we only invite our readers to observe the connection of the 
interpolated parts with what precedes and with what follows. Chapter 
5§ contains general instructions that it is the will of God that all men be 
like-minded in respect to piety. In the end of the chapter, the laity are 
addressed, and exhorted to live in peace with one another, and endeavor 
to promote the welfare of the church. With this, now, the beginning of 
c. 57 is quite suitably connected. Here the bishop is exhorted to walk 
unblamably and irreproachably. ' When,' it is added, — ' when thou 
callest an assembly of the church, as one that is the commander of a 
great ship, appoint the assemblies to be made with all possible skill ; 
charging the deacons, as mariners, to prepare places for the brethren, 
as for passengers, with all due care and decorum.' And now follows 
suddenly, by a slight form of connection, and first indeed (*«t nomov 
fihv^ a description how the edifice of the church must be constructed, 
what form it must have, and how it must be built. 3 Then the seats for 
the bishop, the presbyters, the deacons, and the laity, are very care- 
fully designated ; and then follows a description of the external divine 
worship, even to very minute matters. It is seen at once that this 
whole description does not fit in, at all, to the connection ; and that it 



1 In Asseman's Orient. Biblioth. An abstract from A. E. Pfeiffer. Erlang. 1776, 
p. 129. Compare Boyer, Historia (^rhoena et Edessena ; Pctrop. 1734. 

2 See Cyprian's Epist. 33 and 55; and Eusebins, Etclesiast. Hist. b. vii. c. 13, and 
b. viii. c. 13. 

3 And first indeed let the building be long, with its bend to the east, with its vestries 
on botb sides at the cast end; and so it will be like a ship. In the middle, let the 
bishop's throne be placed; and on each side of him let the presbytery sit down; and 
let the deacons stand near at hand, in close and small girt garments; for they are like 
the mariners and managers of the ship, &c. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SECOND BOOK. 373 

does not, we will point out more particularly, when we prove the 
agreement with the eighth book, and the later age of these interpola- 
tions. The interpolator has, it is true, been obliged to connect the parts 
apparently ; but still the artificial and forced connection is manifest. It 
does not appear how c. 57 coheres with c. 58. After, in the end of 
the fifty-seventh chapter, direction is given in what manner the bishop 
should bless the people and pray for them, the fifty-eighth chapter 
treats of the manner in which brethren who come from other parishes, 
and bring with them letters of commendation (litterre cominendaticke, 
oioTaaiv hmxofu,£6pevoi), should be received, after due examination. 
To this now c. 59 is added with as little natural connection ; for it con- 
tains some precepts in respect to morning and evening prayers ; and the 
way in which these precepts are brought in and employed, is altogether 
analogous to what is found in c. 57. It might perhaps be objected, that 
it would be not less difficult to prove the connection of c. 58 1 with the 
beginning of c. 57. The connection, indeed, is not very obvious ; but 
still it would not fail altogether. We have seen that the beginning of 
c. 57 directs that the bishop, through the deacons, take care that places 
be shown to the believers. Chapter 58 commands now, in connection 
with this, that also to brethren from abroad, after examination has been 
had, whether they were also entitled, a place should be shown, to each 
according to his dignity. See, besides, the investigation in a subsequent 
part of this essay. 

Especially about the middle of the third century, during the time of 
the persecutions, there arose the custom, that, when the Christians wished 
to visit parishes where they were strangers, they received letters of com- 
mendation (imaiolai trvuTotTixaij iniaiolal xoivwvrAul^ litterae formates, 
litters commendaticire, littera? communicatorige). These letters are not 
to be confounded with the certificates (libelli) which the confessors gave 
to those who had fallen away (lapsi), in order that they might be 
received again into the fellowship of the church. The first council at 
Arelate, in Gaul, against the Donatists, A.D. 314, canon ix. and the 
council at Illiberis in Spain, A.D. 305, canon xxv. contain limiting 
regulations, that such letters might not be given by all clergymen. 
Now our Constitutions also mention, in c. 58, this custom, and direct 
such letters to be carefully examined, in order to ascertain whether the 
brethren are believers, or whether they belong to a heretical party, and 



1 The caption of c. 58 : Of commendatory letters in favor of strangers, lay per- 
sons, clergymen, and bishops; and that those who come into the church assemblies 
are to be received without regard to their quality. 



374 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

to what parish. Even so early as before the end of the third century, 
we find limiting prohibitions, that it should not be permitted to every 
clergyman, but only to the bishop, to give those letters. Thus, canon 
viii. of the council at Antioch against Paul of Somosata, A.D. 270. 



Investigation on the Third Booh of the Constitutions. 

The third book bears the superscription, concerning widows (neqi 
Xiig&vy Under this general designation are found also many other pre- 
cepts which cannot be included under this designation ; for example, 
concern ing baptism. But if any one should be inclined to infer from 
this circumstance that materials from different sources were placed 
together, it is difficult to conceive why it should be believed that the 
compiler has strung all together without any mutual connection. The 
writing itself gives no occasion for this opinion. And especially it is 
incredible that the compiler should have been so inconsiderate as to 
select a title or a superscription by which his compilation could easily 
be detected. The most simple explanation is, that this superscription 
was added at a later period ; and that it was chosen, because, for the 
most part, it includes under itself the contents of the book. [And why 
may it not, for the same reason, have been chosen at first by the 
author ?] 

In the ancient church the widows constituted a peculiar order (jo 
Xi]QMbv^ from which the deaconesses were usually elected. On this 
account, Tertullian already calls the deaconesses ividows (vidua?), and 
their office widoivhood (viduatus.) 1 In our Constitutions, however, the 
widows seem no way to be identical with the deaconesses ; for in b. vi. 
c. 18, it is commanded that the deaconesses should be elected from 
among the virgins ; but when this could not be, they must be at least 
widows. 2 A special proof in point is the passage in b. iii. c. 7, where 
it is said, the widows therefore ought to be grave, obedient to the 
bishops, and the presbyters, and the deacons, and, moreover, to the 
deaconesses, with piety, reverence, and fear. Hence it undeniably 
appears that deaconesses and widows were not identical, although the 



1 Lib. i. ad Uxor. c. 7. Quantum detrahant fidei, quantum obstrcpant sanctitati 
nuptial secundas, disciplina ecclesirc et prsescriptio apostoli dcclarat, cum diganios 
non sinit prcesidcrc, cum viduam adlegi in ordinem, nisi univiram, non concedit. 

2 AiaKoviooa ytvtadu nap&evog dyvr/ : side (J.rjye, K*av \rjpa (xovoyufiOQ, mcrr/ aal rcfila. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE THIRD BOOK. 375 

latter, according to our Constitutions, must have constituted a peculiar 
clerical order. The relations and duties of widows are treated copi- 
ously in a series of chapters. From the whole it is evident, that, 
when the Constitutions were written, virginity, and celibacy after the 
first marriage, stood in high esteem. Great value, especially, seems to 
be ascribed to a widow's remaining in an unmarried state. Thus it is 
said in b. iii. c. 1 : — ' But if any younger woman, who hath lived a short 
time with her husband, and hath lost him by death or some other occa- 
sion, remain by herself, having the gift of widowhood, she will be found 
to be blessed.' Still the Constitutions by no means enjoin celibacy and 
widowhood, but leave this rather to the judgment of each. They 
only give a caution not too soon and hastily to make a vow, but cau- 
tiously and considerately ; for it is better not to vow than to vow and 
not to pay. This view was altogether the prevalent one also in the age 
which we have assigned for the origin of the Constitutions. There 
was, as yet, no such dark view, nor so extravagant an asceticism, that 
the value of married life was not acknowledged. Cyprian, also, in 
several places expresses himself altogether in the spirit of our Constitu- 
tions. He also holds the continuance in virginity to be very meritori- 
ous, but leaves it to each one's own discretion. 1 

In the following chapters, the Constitutions exhibit precepts on the 
moral deportment of the widows. As these precepts are of a more 
general nature, we can pass over them here. Only we here present in 
addition a very remarkable view given us in the Constitutions, which is 
expressed also in Cyprian. The fourth chapter begins with an exhor- 
tation, if there are no widows, to bestow benefits on other needy persons. 
It seems that there were many at that time, who distributed in secret 
their favors to the poor, according to the direction of our Lord in 
Matt. G : 2. On the contrary, our Constitutions urge and command, 
' Tell now the poor who it is that hath done them kindnesses, that they 
may pray for him by name.' 2 There seems to lie at the foundation of 
the view here presented, another command of our Lord, Matt. 5 : 
16, which, however, was misunderstood. Unless we assume this, it is 
difficult to explain how the author of the Constitutions and Cyprian 
could come to such a view. The latter says expressly in Epist. 60, 3 that 



1 Cypriani Epist. 62. Quod si virgines ex fide se Christo dicaverunt, pudicse et 
castee sine ulla fabula pe'rseverent, et ita fortes et stabiles pnemium virginitatis expec- 
tant. Si autem perseverare nolunt, vel non possunt, melius est, ut nubant quam in 
igncm tlelictis suis cadant. Certe nullum fratribus aut sororibus scandalum faciant. 

2 Aeye 6e avrolg, nal Tig 6 dsdundg, Iva nal e£ ovdfiaTog vizep avrov Tvpooevx^vTac. 

3 Cypriani Epist. 60. Ut autem fratres nostros ac sorores, qui ad hoc opus tarn 



376 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

he has collected the names of the individuals who had shown them- 
selves beneficent, so that mention might be made of them in the prayers 
and supplications. We can explain this from the similar aim in the 
Constitutions and in Cyprian : It is to commend all that is external in 
religion. In saying this, we certainly do not wish to speak disrespect- 
fully of Cyprian, whose deep inner life, and whose true reception of 
Christianity, is well entitled to a decided acknowledgment ; but it arose 
from his whole manner of viewing things, that he looked too much 
to external means, although he constantly wished thereby to pursue a 
more profound internal object. 

In the last parts of the third book, precepts are given concerning 
baptism, and indeed in c. 9 — 11, that neither women nor lay persons 
may venture to baptize ; ' for if we,' say the apostles, l do not intrust to 
women the office of teaching, how shall any one allow to them, against 
their nature, the work of the priesthood ? ' But here not only laymen, 
but also the lower clergy, are forbidden to baptize ; and baptism is 
allowed only to the bishops and presbyters, with the assistance of the 
deacons. 1 Every priestly act was forbidden to lay persons. 2 Among 
other things specified for the sake of illustration, is the laying-on of 
hands. This, most probably, is here mentioned, because the rite of 
laying-on of hands (x^Qodsota, nrrpp), a sign borrowed from the 
Jews, formed the concluding act of baptism. It was intended thereby 
to indicate symbolically, that the blessing of the Lord is called down 
upon the person baptized. This, too, was at the basis of the custom 
already mentioned by us, of admitting the penitents into the fellowship 
of the church by the imposition of hands. 

Above all, however, we must examine more closely one rite connected 
with baptism, from which we may draw an inference in respect to the 
age of our Constitutions, namely, the rite of anointing. In c. 16, it is 
said, ' Thou, therefore, O bishop, according to that type, shalt anoint 



neccssarium prompte ac libenter operati sunt, ut semper operentur, in mentem habea- 
tis in orationibus vestris, et eis vicem boni operis in sacrinciis et precibus reprresen- 
tetis, subdidi nomina singulorum, sed et collegarum quoque et eonsacerdotum nostro- 
ram, qui et ipsi cum prcesentes essent, et suo, et plebis suse nomine quaedam pro 
viribus contulerunt, nomina addidi; et prater quantitatem propriam nostram, eorum 
quoque summulas significavi et misi : quorum omnium, secundum quod fides et 
caritcs exigunt. in orationibus et precibus vestris meminisse debetis. 

1 Copious extracts on the rite of baptism in tbe Constitutions and in later writers, 
are found in Angusti. Th. iv. S. 86. 

2 B. iii. c. 10. Nor do we permit tbe laity to perform any of the offices belongig 
to the priesthood ; as, for instance, tbe sacrifice, or baptism, or the laying-on of hands* 
or the blessing, whether the smaller or the greater. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE THIRD BOOK. 377 

the head of those who are to be baptized, whether they be men or 
women, with the holy oil, for a type of the spiritual baptism. Then, 
either thou, bishop, or a presbyter that is under thee, shall pronounce 
over them the sacred name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Spirit, and shall baptize them in the water ; and let a deacon 
receive the man, and a deaconess the woman, that so the imparting of 
the inviolable seal maybe done with becoming decency. And, after this, 
let the bishop anoint those who are baptized, with ointment.' From 
this passage we perceive already, that, in the anointing, two essential acts 
are distinguished. In the beginning of the baptism, the forehead of the 
person to be baptized is besmeared with oil (ihdov, oleum) ; and, in the 
end, the baptism is concluded with the ointment (/hvqov, unguentum, 
usually called also chrism (/of^tt). That they are intended as two 
distinct ceremonies with distinct symbolical meanings, is corroborated by 
c. 17, where these symbols are explained. It is there said : The oil 
(to llaiov) is instead of the Holy Spirit; the ointment (to [ivgov) is the 
confirmation of the confession. 1 

If now we ask, to what time this rite belongs, we shall find it afford- 
ing evidence in favor of our opinion respecting the time of the Consti- 
tutions. The origin of this rite we have to seek in the Old Testament, 
and indeed in the idea of the Levitical priesthood, — a priesthood which, 
in the time of our Constitutions, and especially also through them, was 
supposed to be transferred to Christianity. An analogy was easily 
found, since the New Testament so decidedly holds fast the idea of the 
spiritual priesthood of all Christians. As, now, in the Old Testament, 
the anointing consecrated priests to this office, so, under the Christian 
dispensation, the anointing should also prepare for the spiritual priest- 
hood. We find this custom first in Tertullian, 2 in whose time it was not 
yet regarded as altogether essential ; for in other passages, where he 
introduces the usages connected with baptism, he does not mention 
anointing. Thus, De Corona Milit. c. 3. On the contrary, in Cyprian, 
the anointing appears already as an integral part of the baptismal cere- 
mony. 3 Daille, 4 it is true, has called attention to the fact that Tertul- 



1 B. iii. c. 17. Kal to elaiov uvtc irvevfiaTog ayiov — to ftvpov, fispaiuoiq tt]q dfio- 
Xoyiaq. 

2 De Baptismo, c. 7. Egressi de lavaoro perungimur benedicta unctione de pris- 
tina disciplina, qua ungui oleo de cornu in sacerdotium solebant. Adv. Marcion. lib. i. 
c. 14. De Res. Carn. c. 8. 

3 Cypriani Epist. 70. Ungi quoque necessc est eum, qui baptizatus sit, ut accepto 
ehrismate essct unctus Dei, et habere in se gratiam Christi possit. Porro autem 
eucharistia et unde bapttzati unguntur oleo in altari sanetificato. 

4 De Confirmat. lib. ii. c. 11, p. 181. Sunt apud hunc ( Constitutionum auctorem) 



378 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

lian, who certainly mentions the rite of anointing (unctio) in baptism, 
speaks of an anointing which is performed after baptism, not before 
it. And Bingham agrees with him in this view. 1 Now the remark? 
that in Tertullian there is mention only of the second anointing, 
could be applied also to our passage in Cyprian. Still the evidence 
here amounts chiefly to this : — it shows that, in the time of Cyprian 
and towards the end of the third century, anointing existed as an inte- 
gral part of baptism. For as to the first anointing, which our Con- 
stitutions are the first to mention, Cyprian, who did not describe the 
rite of baptism circumstantially, might pass over this, and comprise it in 
the general mention of anointing. This 70th epistle of Cyprian, which 
he in the name of a council directed to Januarius and to the other Nu- 
midian bishops, shows manifestly, that the custom of anointing was 
already general at that time ; and therefore it proves again the agree- 
ment of the Constitutions with the customs and usages of that age. 

As we have already seen, from c. 16, that the deaconesses partici- 
pated in the baptismal ceremony, so, in c. 15, this participation is still 
more particularly specified. After the deacon has anointed the fore- 
head of the women, the deaconess must complete the anointing. 2 Epi- 
phanius is the first who reckons this as belonging to the office of the 
deaconesses, although it is very probable that the regulation was intro- 
duced at an earlier period. 3 

Finally, we proceed to the consideration of the 20th chapter of the 
third book ; where the precept is given, that a bishop be ordained by 
three bishops, or, at least, by two. That this, instances of which, it is 
true, occurred at an earlier day, was customary towards the end of 
the third century, can be proved in several ways. Soon after this time, 
however, the custom changed in respect to the observance of the rite ; 
and, in the course of time, various decrees on this part of ordination were 
published by many councils. The first council of Arelate, in Gaul, 
against the Donatists, A.D. 314, in canon xx. required, whenever it 



qux nusquam in superiorum tempornm monumentis deprehendimus, nonnulla ; quale 
illud est, quod baptizandi oleo unguntur, antequam tingantur; quoque tincti non 
olco, sed [tvpy, id est, unguento, chrismantur. 

1 Orig. iv. p. 303. Quanquam enim Tertullianus de unctione quadam inter bap- 
tismi eau-cmonias loquitur, tamen, non fuit haec unctio baptismum antegressa, sed 
unctio cum consecuta in confirraationc ct manuum impositioni juncta, &c. 

2 B. iii. c. 15. We stand in need of a woman, a deaconess, for many occasions; 
and first, in the baptism of women, the deacon shall anoint their forehead with holy 
oil, and after him the deaconess shall anoint them [that is, complete the anointing of 
their persons] ; for there is no necessity that the women should be seen by the men. 

3 Epiphan. Expos. Fid. c. 21. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE THIRD BOOK. o%~3 

might be possible, eight bishops, who should perform the ordination ; 
and canon xxxix. of the third council at Carthage, under Aurelius, A.D. 
397, expresses even the opinion that the ordination could be accom- 
plished only by twelve bishops. Still it seems that all these decrees, in 
the course of time, ceased to be valid, and that there was a return to the 
old custom of letting the ordination be performed by three bishops, 
although there had never been a universal departure from it. 

Already in the Constitutions, b. viii. c. 27, the same precept as in 
b. iii. c. 20, respecting the ordination of bishops, is repeated : — ' Let a 
bishop be ordained by three or two bishops.' This repetition, by the 
way, indicates the later composition of the book. The second council of 
Arelate, also, which was held A.D. 451, expressly says, in canon v. that 
no metropolitan bishop may presume to ordain a bishop without three 
other bishops of his province. 1 

The custom of a bishop's being ordained by three bishops, is un- 
questionably more ancient than our Constitutions ; but we must never 
forget that the author has adopted the most important arrangements 
which existed at his time, and many from antiquity, in order to prevent 
his work from appearing as one altogether new, and to promote its re- 
ception. Already in the time of the Constitutions it had begun to be 
customary that the bishops of the neighboring province should come 
together to the choice and ordination of a bishop. Cyprian states this 
as a common custom ; 2 and with him Eusebius fully agrees. 3 But par- 
ticularly the fourth canon of the council at Nice expresses itself on the 
subject : It is certainly the most suitable that a bishop be constituted by 
all those who are in his province ; but when this is difficult, on account 
of urgent necessity, or distance, or other causes, three, at all events? 
should come together for this object, and the ordination be performed, 
after the absent also have expressed their consent by writing. 4 Till 



1 Nee episcopus metropolitanus sine tribus episcopis comprovincialibus prcesumat 
episcopum ordinare. 

2 Epist. 6S. Propter quod diligenter de traditione divina et apostolica observatione 
observandum est et tenendum. Quod apud nos quoque et fere per provineias univer- 
sas tenetur, ut ad ordinationes rite celebrandas. ad earn plebern, cui pra^positus ordina- 
tur, episcopi ejusdem provincial proxirni quique conveniant. et episcopus deligatur 
plebe praisente, &c. 

3 Eccles. Hist. b. vi. c. 11. It made known, that, by going forth beyond the gates. 
they should receive the bishop pointed out to them by God. Having done this, with 
the common consent of the bishops of the neighboring churches, they constrain him to 
stay among them. 

4 '~E-lgkoitov -pooTjicei \iaUG~a [itv i'Tib TzavTuv tCjv iv tt) k-apxici KadiaruG&ac el 
de dvGxeph drj to tolovto, . . . et; uiravroc; rpelg e~l to avTO crvvayo/ievovg, gvuxjjjjquv 



380 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

about the end of the third century, however, the ordination by three 
bishops was the most usual. This we perceive also very clearly from 
the controversies of Novatian and Cornelius. Scarcely had Novatus 
arrived at Rome, when, through his intrigues and secret artifices, the 
schism became greatly aggravated. The mild and gentle Novatian had 
been far from striving for the dignity of bishop ; but after Novatus put 
himself at the head of his party, he who was so unaspiring was com- 
pelled, against his will, to assume the episcopal dignity. But how was 
his ordination accomplished ? Cornelius had been regularly chosen and 
acknowledged as bishop ; and hence it must have been doubly difficult 
to set up and regularly ordain a rival bishop. The party of Novatian 
now persuaded three bishops of some small Italian cities, who came to 
Rome, and consecrated him as a bishop. This is, therefore, a proof that 
ordination was usually performed by three ; for although Novatian after- 
wards, especially through the efforts of Cyprian, failed almost universally 
of being acknowledged as bishop of Rome, yet the cause was not the 
irregular form of his ordination ; for nowhere in the many passages which 
speak against him, particularly in Cyprian, do we find the regularity of 
the form of his ordination called in question. 



Investigation on the Fourth Booh of the Constitutions. 

The fourth book also, like the first, will afford us but few materials 
for making a judgment in respect to the age of the Constitutions, and 
will contribute only a little to justify and support the opinion which we 
have advanced. The reason here, as in the first book, is that this book 
contains only general moral precepts, which belong to every time, and 
therefore could have been given at any time. The book is superscribed, 
concerning orphans (jregl dg(pai>wi>), and, in the first chapters, treats 
altogether concerning them, concerning their relation to the bishop, 
how they are to be supported, and so forth ; but then follow some moral 
precepts, additional instructions respecting the admissibility of oblations, 
and finally again some moral precepts in regard to several relations 
of life. That the superscriptions of the books of the Constitutions do 
not present the whole contents, or that the contents are not minutely 
stated in these superscriptions, has already been mentioned and ex- 
plained. It might perhaps be objected against the unity of the first 



yivojjLSvcov ml ru>v uttovtuv nal ovvndeLtivov diii ypaftfuiTuv, tute rijv x el P 0T0VLav 

TTOULGdai. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FOURTH BOOK. 381 

seven books, that this fourth book testifies against it most decidedly ; for 
it is not to be conceived why the author did not incorporate in the first 
book the general moral precepts which are contained in the fourth. But 
let us consider that the author of the Constitutions was neither able nor 
desirous to construct a work of art, that he could not already beforehand 
have so complete a view of his pretty extensive writing, and in contem- 
plation arrange it with so much skill as to exclude the possibility of his 
saying any thing towards the end of the fourth book, which he might 
not as well have said in the first book. Besides, it was natural that the 
author, not accustomed to strict divisions and logical arrangements, 
should write his precepts as the subjects presented themselves to him, 
and as he was led to them, as it were, of himself. 

If any one should say that c. 4, concerning love of money {jxeqI 
(fdagyvQlug^ only repeats, though in other words, what is said in b. i. 
c. 1, concerning covetousness (jiegl nleove^lag), this objection is easily 
removed. In the first place, the superscriptions of the chapters are 
unessential, and probably are of later origin. However, irrespectively 
of this, all turns on the inquiry, whether the connection is preserved ; 
and this can easily be pointed out. In the second chapter it is ex- 
plained, how the bishop ought to provide for the orphans ; and c. 3 
answers the question, who they are that ought to be supported. In 
the end of the chapter it is remarked that it is wrong for one to 
receive from others, if he has ability to support himself. Thus there 
most naturally follows what is stated in c. 4, where he is zealously con- 
demned who has money, and yet does not bestow it upon others, nor use 
it himself. Certainly nothing can cohere better ; and the only occasion 
here for framing an argument unfavorable to the unity of the first seven 
books must be the similar superscriptions in b. i. c. 1, and b. iv. c. 4. 

The connection between the subsequent chapters is equally good. 
Chapter 5 has for its contents, ' With what reverence it is proper to par- 
take of the Lord's oblations ;' and c. 6 contains a copious statement ' who 
they are whose contributions must be received or rejected.' The follow- 
ing chapters only carry out this subject more fully. It is somewhat 
more difficult to show the connection in regard to c. 11, 12, 13, and 14, 
in which precepts are given concerning the relation of parents and chil- 
dren, servants and masters, Christian subjects and worldly rulers, and 
concerning virgins. But if we consider that the author of the Constitu- 
tions had said several things concerning the relation of orphans and their 
support, we shall not think it strange, if, with a simple transition, But 
ye fathers (ol (iiv 101 Traieoe;), he proceeds to give moral precepts con- 
cerning those general relations which we have just mentioned. [The 
transition to c. 14 (the only one here that seems to require any special 



6WI ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

remark) not a little resembles that of the apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 7 : 25 ; 
where, after speaking in relation to servants, he proceeds to discourse 
concerning virgins.] 

From b. vi. c. 24, the contents of which are, ' That it pleased the 
Lord that the law of righteousness should be manifested also by Ro- 
mans ' (oVt wA diu. ( Pu> t u(xlojv evdoxTjoev 6 xvgiog tov zr^g dixououvvrjg v6f.iov 
imdelxvadai), some have been disposed to conclude that the origin of 
the Constitutions falls in the times of the Christian emperors. For it 
is expressly said, that Romans, having believed on the Lord, departed 
from polytheism and injustice. 1 But from this we need infer only, that 
at the time when the Constitutions were written, many Romans had 
become Christians, 2 but not at all that the Christian religion had 
become the religion of the empire. Besides, from several passages of 
the Constitutions the most striking proof of the contrary can be brought : 
for example, from b. iv. c. 9. There it is commanded to sustain and 
to set free those who, for the name of Christ, have been condemned, by 
the sentence of tyrants, to single combat and to death. This points 
manifestly to the time when the Christian church still suffered perse- 
cutions. But there are several other passages which sustain this 
opinion, and place it beyond all doubt that the Constitutions must have 
been written during or soon after a very severe persecution. In b. v. 
c. 1 and 3, it is most definitely commanded, even though it may be 
attended with danger, to extend a helping hand to those who, for the 
sake of Christ, are persecuted by unbelievers. 3 All points to the vio- 
lence of persecution, and indicates that the Christians at that time had 
had to suffer the most cruel inflictions. Thus it is said in b. v. c. 1, 
4 If any Christian, on account of the name of Christ, and love and faith 
towards God, be condemned by the ungodly to the games, or to the 
beasts, or to the mines, do not ye overlook him.' And in c. 4, he is 
declared to be miserable, wretched, and abominable, who denies that he 
is a Christian, and loves his own life more than he does the Lord. In 
the persecution which the Constitutions had in view, death seems to 



1 Const, b. vi. c. 24. Kal yap icai ovrot Tncreixjavreg em tov Kvpiov, Kal 7roX«t?aof 
uniar-rjaav Kal adiKiag. 

2 Already in Tertullian's time, this was the case. Apologet. c. 1. Christiani imple- 
verant urbes, insulas, castella, municipia, conciliabula. castra ipsa, tribus, dccurias, 
palatium, scnatum, forum, c. 37 — erantque pars pame major civitatis. 

3 B. v. c. 1. (The caption:) That it is reasonable for the faithful, according to the 
Constitution of the Lord, to supply the wants of those who, for the sake of Christ, arc 
afflicted by the unbelievers. C. 3. (The caption:) That we ought to afford a help- 
ing hand to such as are spoiled for the sake of Christ, although wc should incur danger 
ourselves 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FOURTH BOOK. 383 

have been the penalty of being "a Christian. Reference cannot have 
been made to one of the earlier persecutions. For that, the number of 
the Christians, as intimated in other passages of the Constitutions, is 
too great and considerable. But this circumstance also agrees with the 
age fixed by us for the Constitutions. About the middle and towards 
the end of the third century, the Christians endured severe persecutions. 
The terrible persecution under the emperor Decius (A.D. 249-251) 
was scarcely over, when it was renewed under Gallus (A.D. 251-253 )\ 
Our Constitutions, it is most probable, have in view the persecution 
under Valerian, in which Cyprian was put to death. Several circum- 
stances give weight to this conjecture. After Valerian (from A.D. 
254 — ) had shown himself favorable to the Christians, the persecution 
began suddenly in the year 257. At first it was not bloody ; but in the 
year 258, the well-known edict of the emperor appeared, which made 
the persecution one of the bloodiest. 2 ' The bishops, presbyters, and 
deacons, shall be executed immediately; senators and distinguished 
men shall lose their dignities and possessions ; and if, after the loss of 
these, they continue to be Christians, they also shall be punished with 
death.' All this harmonizes with what is indicated on the subject in 
our Constitutions. To refer it to a later persecution, as, for instance, to 
the one under Diocletian, would contradict the other contents of the Con- 
stitutions. Besides, the persecution under Diocletian, surely, was not so 
violent as the one which occurred under Valerian. At least, in the 
edict of Diocletian, 3 the punishment of death is not threatened against all 
Christians, — a fact which would not well harmonize with our Consti- 
tutions. On the contrary, we find it mentioned in Cyprian, Epist. 77, 
that, at the time of the persecutions under Valerian, many Christians, 
who were not put to death, were sent to the mines, which also our Con- 
stitutions mention. 

Finally, from c. 14, which treats concerning virgins (nsgl Tragdhojv), 



1 See Dionysius of Alexandria, in Euseb. Eccles. Hist. b. vii. c. 1. Cyprian's Epist. 
57 and 58. and his Liber ad Demetriannrn, a work in defence of the Christians against 
the reproaches of Demetrian. A destructive pestilence, drought, and famine, had 
excited the rage of the people against the Christians. 

2 Dionys. Alex, in Euseb. Eccles. Hist. b. vii. e. 10 and 11. The edict of the empe- 
ror is found in Cyprian, Epist. 82 ad Successum. Ut cpiscopi et presbyteri, et dia- 
cones in continenti animadvertantur ; senatores vcro et egregii viri, dignitate amissa, 
etiam bonis spolientur, et si, ademptis facultatibus, Christiani esse perseveraverint, 
capite quoque mulctentur ; matron® vero, ademptis bonis, in exsiliurn relegentur ; 
Csesariani autem quicunque vel prius confessi fucrant, vel nunc confessi fuerint. con- 
fiscentur, et vincti in Csesarianas possessiones descripti mittantur. 

3 Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, b. viii. c. 2. 



384 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

we can also draw some inferences and proofs. It seems that, at the 
time of the Constitutions, there was a distinct order of virgins, which, 
as such, was in a close ecclesiastical connection, and was considered 
almost as a spiritual order. But here we must by no means think of 
the monastic life, which came into vogue at a later period. Long 
before monachism arose, there was in Christendom an ascetic tendency, 
which, it is true, bore in itself the germ of the later monachism, but still 
had a different character ; and, so long as this ascetic tendency did not 
go to an extreme, it formed a very salutary opposition to the mere 
worldly life. 1 In the beginning of the chapter, the apostles say that 
they had received no precepts in reference to virginity, but that they 
leave it, as a vow, to the power of those who are thus inclined. Only 
they advise not to make the solemn promise too hastily and inconsider- 
ately. 2 This points, not to a promise given merely to one's self, a pri- 
vate resolution, but to a public relation, into which the virgins entered 
by the promise of virginity. And when it is further said, that she who 
has made the promise ought to do such works as are suitable to her 
promise, it seems to be implied that it was a public act, which, though 
not absolutely, was yet relatively binding. 3 It was thought that in this 
promise there was something meritorious ; and if the person who made 
it, did not condemn marriage, it was thought that there was in the vow 
of virginity something morally elevated that merited recognition. Were 
the discourse in this chapter only in general of virgins, and not of this 
distinct spiritual order, we cannot see why the subject is treated in the 
Constitutions. The purpose of virginity could, without any ecclesias- 
tical regulation, arise in the minds of individuals, and be carried out ; 
but the expressions, the female who hath promised or vowed (rty' tnay- 
yeiXa{isvT}v), and the solemn promise [InuyyeMa and In&yyeXna), and the 
emphatic manner in which they are used, point preeminently to some 
act that is public, and connected with the church. 

If, now, we look around to ascertain whether there is any analogous 

I 1 The incidental remark with which this sentence closes, is not a link in the author's 
argument ; and it may well be doubted whether the ascetic tendency, so prevalent in 
the second and tbe third century, and found also, to some extent, in these so-called 
Apostolical Constitutions, was altogether right and salutary in itself; and whether that 
which bore in itself the germ of the later monasticism Mas the proper and purely 
Christian corrective of the mere worldly life.] 

2 B. iv. c. 14. Uepl 6e irapd Eviag hvro7Jfjv ovk thapofiev, t?) 6e tuv f3ov?.ofi£vtov ezov- 
oia roino ETUTpeTTOfiEV, ug euxv v ' ticelvo (ilv obv avrolg TrapaivovvTsg, p/ Trpoxeipuc rt 

3 Act }('j> t//v EimyyELTia/iEvriv, u£m rye ir:ayye7.'iaq epya diaTrpaooofiivrjv. deacwetv rb 
knayyetya aflrifc, 6n kortv uhf&eg , ical diii g^oA^v ebaefieiae , oh /card 6ia : h7.?ji ^auov 

JEVOfjLEVrjV. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FIFTII BOOK. 885 

relation in the development of ecclesiastical life, we shall see that, 
exactly in the third century, there was in the church just such a rela- 
tion as that which the Constitutions represent the virgins as sustain- 
ing. These were called ecclesiastical virgins (virgines ecclesiastics) , 
and were altogether distinct from the monastic virgins (virgines monas- 
ticaa). The ecclesiastical virgins remained, after the promise of vir- 
ginity, in their former relations, and never lived, as the later monastic 
virgins, in separate habitations. There can be a very broad line of 
distinction drawn between the ascetic and the monastic life. In Cyp- 
rian we find these virgins several times mentioned. See his Epist. G2. 
In all the passages, however, it is not clear, whether the vow of virginity 
was merely a solemn, private act, or a public vow. But in no case was 
it binding ; for Cyprian, as well as the author of the Constitutions, leaves 
it to the judgment of the individuals to fulfil the vow or not : only both 
call attention to the fact, that it is better not to vow than not to perform 
the promise. From the later Christian writer Socrates, who, in his 
Ecclesiastical History, b. viii. c. 23, also mentions the ecclesiastical vir- 
gins (nuqdhuv lxxXrj(naaTixujv), we perceive that they were so called, 
especially on account of their having been received into the catalogue of 
spiritual persons. A prominent passage in point occurs in the same 
work, b. i. c. 17. 1 On this account these virgins were sometimes also 
called canonical virgins (virgines canonic^). But at a later period the 
discipline of the church, in respect to those virgins who broke their vow 
and married, seems to have become more rigid. The council at Ancyra 
in Galatia, A.D. 314, decreed for such a season of penance. 2 



Investigation on the Fifth Book of the Constitutions. 

In our investigation on the fourth book, we have already mentioned 
the first chapter of the fifth, in which there is a reference to a vio- 
lent persecution of the Christians. Now, b. v. c. 6, copiously de- 
velops the thought that the believer must, in respect to his safety, be 
neither careless nor unmanfully timid ; but that he must prudently flee ; 
yet, if he fall into the hands of the persecutors, he must not fear to 



1 Kal 7ug nap&evovg rug uvayeypafifievar hv tu tuv eKKfymuv navovt, eirl eoriaoiv 

7ipOTp£7rO/J.EV7], &C. 

2 Concil. Ancyr. can. xix. "Qool napd-eviav enayyeXXo/ievoi utierovoL ttjv knayye* 
?uav ' rbv ruv diyafiuv bpov tK~)j]povruaav, 

25 



386 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

acknowledge his faith, in view of the martyr's crown. 1 The same view 
prevailed among the Christians during the persecutions under Decius 
and Valerian. It was not considered disreputable to save themselves 
by flight or by prudent ingenuity, so long as this was not a denial of 
Christ ; but it was required, when the time for acknowledgment was 
come, to acknowledge the Lord with confidence and courage. Alto- 
gether in this spirit, our Constitutions enjoin, ' Wherefore, neither let 
us be rash and hasty to thrust ourselves into dangers ; nor let us, 
when we do fall into them, be, through cowardice, ashamed of our 
profession.' 2 But does not this agree, almost word for word, with the 
principles of Cyprian ? Do we not see that in his time the Christians 
followed these principles? Indeed, did not Cyprian act entirely in 
this spirit ? We need only call to mind the well-known fact that he 
withdrew himself a long time from the persecutions. With much 
beauty, and in perfect accordance with our Constitutions, he expresses 
himself on this subject in his last epistle to the clergy and people 
of his charge : ' But ye, my dearest brethren, preserve quietness, con- 
formably to the precept which ye have often received from me, accord- 
ing to the doctrine of our Lord. Let no one of you bring the brethren 
into trouble, nor spontaneously offer himself to the heathen. For it is 
he who is apprehended and delivered up that ought to speak ; if indeed 
the Lord within us, at that hour, may sp^ak, who would have us con- 
fess rather than profess.' 3 

In the same chapter our Constitutions mention the martyrdom of the 
catechumens, and assert that martyrdom is a valid substitute for baptism : 
' But let him who is counted worthy of martyrdom, rejoice with joy in 
the Lord, as obtaining so great a crown, and departing out of this life 
by his confession. And although he be but a catechumen, let him 
depart without sorrow ; for his suffering for Christ will be to him a 
more genuine baptism ; since he indeed dies with the Lord really, but 
the rest figuratively.' 4 So early as in Tertullian, we find martyrdom 

1 B. v. c. 6. (Caption:) "On %PV T ° v ^(-otov jx^te fiiiponivdvvov elvai 6C ao<j)a?,siav, 
[Lyre TTEpider] 8C uvavdpiav • oXka kqx {psvysiv 6i' svlafiEiav, nal EfnrEoovra, ayuvi&dai. 6ia 

TVV UTTOKECflEVOV OTEfdVOV. 

2 B. v. c. 6. Ai6 firjTE npoxsipoL d'fisv nal pcipoidvdvvot fir/dh /xr/v tfi—EoovTEg, dsi- 

7ua naTaioxvvofiEV ttjv 6/j.oloyiav. 

3 Epist. 83, ad clerum ct plebera de suo secessu paulo ante passioncm. Vos autem, 
fratres carissimi, pro disciplina quam de mandatis dominicis a me scraper accepistis, 
et secundum quod me tractante srepissime didieistis, quietem ct trancpiillitatem tcnete : 
nequisquam vestrum aliquem tumultum dc fratribus moveat, aut ultro se gcntilibus 
offerat : apprchensus enim ct traditus loqui debet; si quidem in nobis Dominus positus 
ilia hora loquatur, qui nos confiteri magis voluit quam profited. 

4 B. v. c. 6. '0 ds aZiu&Eig /iaprvplov, .yatpe-w, rr/v kv nvpk) x a P^ v i "f TijXucovTQV 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FIFTH BOOK. 387 

designated by the name of a second baptism, and a baptism of blood} 
Still, in his works, it is not stated in so many words, that martyrdom is 
equivalent to baptism. It is known how strictly the ancient church 
maintained the necessity of baptism. But so early as in Cyprian, we 
find the opinion — for it is avowed by him — that martyrdom, or the 
baptism of blood, is a substitute, and indeed a fully satisfactory one, for 
baptism. What transgression cannot be washed away by the baptism 
of blood ! — what crime cannot be expiated by martyrdom ! — is the 
sentiment frequently expressed by Cyprian. Every one could thereby 
become righteous : he excludes only the heretics. They are to be 
cast off, even though they be put to death for acknowledging the 
Saviour's name. 2 For how can he be qualified for martyrdom who 
is not armed for the conflict by the church? 3 On the contrary, Cyp- 
rian gives great prominence to the idea that those catechumens were 
not deprived of baptism, who were baptized by the illustrious and 
exalted baptism of blood. 4 This view accords entirely with that of our 
Constitutions, which we find expressed also in the later writers, Chry- 
sostom, Jerome, Gregory of Nazianzum, Basil, and others. 

To what is contained in the sixth chapter there are now added, in the 
seventh, several statements concerning the resurrection, to which the 
author is led by the mention of the death of martyrs. In the begin- 
ning of the chapter, it is said that ' the Almighty God himself will raise 
us up through our Lord Jesus Christ.' It is then added, in effect, 
that he has promised the resurrection, not only to the martyrs, but to 
all men, the righteous and the unrighteous ; and that he will raise us 



etutvx&v cretyavov, k<xl 5C dfioloyiac 7roiov/j.evog rrjv egodov tov {3iov. Kav mriixovfievoc 
rf aAv-og antra)' to yup iradog to vjrsp XpioTov, earac avT& yvr/acuTepov j3a-~ic t ua- on 
avrbg jj.ev ndpa ovvairodvqoKEi r£> Kvpicp, ol 6e ?,oitzoi, tvttu. 

1 Tertull. De Baptismo, c. 16. Est quidem nobis etiam secundum lavacrum unum 
et ipsum, sanguinis scilicet 5 de quo Dominus, habeo, inquit, baptismo tingui. quum 
jam tinctus fuisset. — Hie est baptismus, qui lavacrum et non acceptum repreesentat et 
perditum reddit. 

2 Cyprian, De Unitate Ecclesias. 

3 Epist. 54. Primo idoneus esse non potest ad martyrium, qui ab ecclesia non ar- 
matur ad proelium. 

4 Epist. 73. Sciant igitur hujusmodi homines suffragatores et fautores hsereticorum, 
catechumenos illos primo integram fidem et ecclesise unitatem, tenere, et ad debellan- 
dum diabolum de divinis castris cum plena et sincera Dei Patris et Christi et Spiritus 
Sancti cognitione procedere ; deinde nee privari baptismi sacramento, utpote qui bap- 
tizentur gloriosissimo et maximo sanguinis baptismo, de quo et Dominus dicebat 
habere se aliud baptisma baptizari sanguine autcm suo baptizatos et passione sanctifi- 
catos consummari, et divinae pollicitationis gratiam consequi, declarat in evangclio 
idem Dominus, &c 



o3S ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

up — such as we now are in our present form, without any defect or 
corruption. 1 . . . The whole accords very much with representations 
found in the fathers of the first centuries. 

But now, after the author of the Constitutions has proved the truth 
of the resurrection from the Holy Scriptures, he passes suddenly to the 
proofs which had been adduced for it by the heathen. Although the 
heathen or Greeks had no belief in the sacred writings of the Chris- 
tians, yet even their prophetess Sibyl testifies to the truth of the doc- 
trine. 2 In these Sibylline verses adduced by the author of the Constitu- 
tions, the hope is expressed that God will, one day, hold a judgment, 
will punish the wicked, and bury them for ever, but that the pious shall 
again continue to live. 3 Then the Constitutions proceed to the heathen 
account of the Pho3nix, and find in it an analogy and a proof for the 
resurrection. This we have already mentioned in connection with the 
first epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians (p. 346). 

Here, in passing, we must mention that some have been stumbled at 
the proposition, ' We know that he did not want matter, but by his will 
alone brought into being those things which Christ was commanded to 
make ; ' 4 and in this have found a trace of Arian heresy ; for (they sup- 
pose) a command cannot have been given to the Son before his becom- 
ing incarnate. Still we doubt our being authorized to regard this 
expression as a later Arian interpolation ; for similar expressions and 
forms of speech occur very frequently in the earlier Christian writers. 

The eighth and ninth chapters contain several precepts concerning the 



1 ... #edc — avaGTrjOEL ijfiag — rotovrovg, otxolol VKupxofiEV tv ry vvv [lop^y, (irjdlv 
eXAEineg exovrag, ?) ttjv tydopav. 

2 Formerly, some endeavored to prove the genuineness of the Sibylline books from 
the fact that Hennas and Clement of Rome appear to have known them ; indeed, that 
the apostle Paul himself (according to Clement of Alexandria) referred the heathen 
to the hooks of the Sibyl ; and that Josephus alludes to a passage in them. But 
when, among the citations of the Sibylline books in Clement of Borne at an early 
day, this passage of our Constitutions also is adduced, we see how little this can be 
admitted as having been cited by him, and therefore also how little this speaks for the 
genuineness and the early origin of the Sibylline books. See, for further remarks. 
F. Bleek on the rise and compilation of the collection of Sibylline oracles preserved to 
us in eight books ; a Dissertation in Schleiermacher's, De Wette's, and LUcke's Theolo- 
gischen Zkitschrift erstes Heft, S. 126 — . 

3 "Qool 6' virb dvcGefiirjoiv 

"H/iaprov tivriTOt, rovg d' av itaXi yala KaXvxpei. ' 
'Oggol 6' evoeftiovoL, ttuTuv Cfloovr' kvl kog/j,o) 

HvEVfia -&EOV dovrog 

4 C. 7. Tlvucfkojuev on ovx vlr/g rjv evrfe^f, uXka <3ov?J/cei \xovq a irpooETayrj Xpiorbgi 
ravra nai n apt] y aye. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FIFTH BOOK. 389 

martyrs ; and then the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth chapters prohibit 
every kind of participation in the idolatry of the heathen. The be- 
liever must sing no heathen hymns ; he must not swear by an idol, nor 
do any thing unworthy of a Christian. But now, between c. 12 and c. 13 
there is no connection. In the end of the twelfth chapter, it is said that 
the Christian's yea must be yea ; and in general terms much zeal is 
expressed against every false oath. Suddenly, without any connec- 
tion, and without any form of transition, it is said, in c. 13 : ' Brethren, 
observe the festival days, and, first, the birthday of our Lord.' As the 
want of connection indicates that this chapter was not written originally 
with the rest of the book, so still more do its contents, which manifestly 
correspond with those of the eighth book, and belong also to the same 
age. When we come to point out the interpolations, we will take into 
view the contents of this chapter. Here we call attention only to the 
fact, that it is manifestly distinguished in its style; for while all the 
other chapters, even the smallest, contain citations out of the Holy 
Scriptures, and are often overladen with them, this chapter contains 
none at all. 

We admit, there is some difficulty in pointing out the connection of 
c. 14 and c. 12; for, obviously, the clause, ' For they began to hold a 
council against the Lord on the second day of the week,' refers to c. 13 ; 
and the for (•/«?) in c. 14 connects itself with the clause, 'Begin the 
holy week of the Passover.' We may, however, well conjecture, that as 
the interpolator introduced a whole chapter, so he could also alter the first 
words of the succeeding chapter, and bring them into an apparent con- 
nection ; but that he could not so conveniently construct a tie with c. 12, 
lay in the nature of the subject. In the preceding chapters there was 
nothing which he could bring into connection with the celebration of the 
birthday of our Lord. He must therefore select the very general form 
of transition, ' Brethren, observe the festival days.' The Christmas 
festival arose after the time in which the Constitutions were written ; 
and the interpolator held it suitable to add a precept concerning its cele- 
bration. This precept he now inserts here, because it was still more 
difficult to connect the subject with the following chapters, which treated 
concerning the Passover. 

As to the thought, now, c. 14 connects itself very well with what had 
gone before, — the treating of martyrdom in general ; and here to this 
is subjoined c. 14 concerning the suffering of our Lord (nsqi too n&dovg 
jov xvq(ov). Surely it was also an object of the author to set forth the 
Christian festivals ; but he wished to set them forth in connection with 
the fundamental view of Christianity, which referred all to the suffer- 
ing, the resurrection, and the glorification of Christ. Hence, as in that 



390 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

period, there were only such festivals as referred to the spiritual crea- 
tion of Christ, so the author of the Constitutions enters also upon a 
copious representation of the festival of the resurrection [the Passover, 
or Easter], to which the festival of Pentecost, above all, is joined ; the 
festival on which Christ was glorified by the outpouring of the Holy 
Spirit. 

The 14th chapter exhibits now pretty copiously the history of our 
Lord's sufferings. We remark only that the holy supper is designated 
as 'the representative mysteries of his precious body and blood' («"r/- 
tvtiu [ivojr^oia iov Tifdov ocauuTOg aijTOv v.a\ u c i t U(xTo:^. It is well known 
that interpreters have not been agreed, whether Judas was present or 
not at the instituting of the Supper. Our Constitutions are the first 
among the ancients that expressly assert the negative (' J-udas not 
being present with us'). 

The 15th chapter enjoins fasting on the fourth day of the week, 
Wednesday (quarta feria), and on the sixth, Friday (the Preparation) : 
on Wednesday, because on that day our Lord was betrayed ; and on 
Friday, because on this he was crucified. 1 It may be asked, whether 
this custom already prevailed at that time in which we have placed the 
origin of the Constitutions. Some have believed that it began in the 
fourth century, but certainly without good ground. In our discussion 
of the external testimonies respecting the Constitutions, we have seen that 
the same precept is found in Epiphanius, Heresy lxxv. 6 (see p. 315). 
He seems to ascribe to this custom an apostolic origin. Hence we 
may with all safety infer that it is not only much more ancient than 
the age of Epiphanius, but that its origin is to be sought in a very early 
time. For us it is sufficient to point to the fact, that, in the time of 
Clement of Alexandria 2 and of Tertullian, 3 the custom was generally 
received, and therefore that it arose in a time still earlier. The 
mention of it, therefore, is by no means against the age of the 
Constitutions assigned by us. In the precept of the Constitutions it is 
then added that we should abstain from fasting on the seventh day at 
the cock-crowing, but fast during the whole Sabbath or seventh day 



1 TeTpuda de Kal TrapaGnevqv Trpoaira^ev rjfiiv vtjgtevziv rrjv (iev dta ttjv Tvpodociav, 
T/jv 6e dca to -udog. 

2 Clem. Alex. Stromat. lib. vii. p. 744, ed. Colon. Oldev avrbg nal rr/g vrjoreiag tu 
alvLy/xara rC>v fyfiepuv tovtuv, rrjg rerpadog nal rr/g Trapaonevyg Aiyw ■ iixL§7\\d(pvTaL yap, 
•;) filv 'Ep/j-oi', y (5e, 'A(j}po(YtT7]g. 

3 Tertull. De Jejun. e. 14. Si oranem in totum devotioncra temporum et dienim et 
mensium eraflit apostolus, cur Pascha celebramus in annuo circulo, in mense prinio ? 
Cur quinquaginta exinde diebus in omni cxsultatione decummus ? Cur stationibus 
quartam et sextan) Sabbati dicamus, et jejuniis Parasceven 1 ? 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FIFTH BOOK. 891 

itself, to that moment ; not that we must fast on the Sabbath, as being 
the day when the work of creation ceased, but because we must fast on 
this one only, as being the day during which the Creator was yet under 
the earth. The same command, to celebrate as festival each Sabbath 
except one, the Constitutions repeat in b. v. c. 20. 1 They represent 
in this matter, very appropriately, the view of the whole oriental 
church. The Sabbath, it is true, was celebrated in all regions ; 
but the manner of its celebration in the oriental church was entirely 
different from that which prevailed in the western. In the oriental 
church it was always considered as a festival day, except the great Sab- 
bath, when Christ lay in the tomb. All the other Sabbaths were cele- 
brated as festival days, what the Constitutions enjoin in many passages ; 
for example, b. vii. c. 23. 2 The Sabbath-day fast is also forbidden in 
the apostolical canons, 64 (66), and, among the later authorities, by 
Epiphanius, Heresy xlii. 3, and especially by the Trullan Council, 
can. 55. In the church of Milan, the oriental custom was followed. 3 
But in respect to this rite, the western church stood in full opposition ; 
for they observed the fast on the Sabbath (Saturday). Of this we find 
an early testimony : it is in the works of Augustin, who, in an epistle 
to Jerome, mentions the custom of the oriental church as differing from 
that of the western, and starts the question how the matter can be 
decided without accusing and condemning a great part of the church. 4 
In the passage a part of which we have inserted at the bottom of the 
page, he then proceeds : ' Would you be pleased to have us say that 
there is something intermediate, which nevertheless may be acceptable 
to him who may have done this, not feignedly, but for the harmony of 



1 Every Sabbath-day excepting one, and every Lord's day, hold your solemn assem- 
blies, and rejoice. 

2 Yet the Sabbath and the Lord's day keep as festivals, because the former is the 
memorial of the creation, and the latter of the resurrection. And in the whole year, 
there is only one Sabbath to be otherwise observed by you, that of our Lord's burial ; 
on which men ought to keep a fast, but not a festival. For inasmuch as the Crea- 
tor was then under the earth, the sorrow for him is more forcible than the joy for 
the creation ; because the Creator is more honorable by nature and dignity than his 
own creatures. 

3 Ambrose, De Jejun. c. 40, and August. Epist. 86. 

4 Augustin. Epist. 19 ad Hicronymum. Vellem, me doceret benigna sinceritas 
tua, utrum simulate quispiam sanctus orientalis, quum Romam venerit, jejunet Sab- 
bato, excepto illo die Paschatis vigiliae 1 Quod si malum esse dixerimus, non solum 
Eomanam ecclesiam, sed etiam multa ei vidua et aliquanto rcmotiora condemnabi- 
mus, ubi mos idem tenetur ct manet. Si autem non jejunarc Sabbato malum putaveri- 
mus, tot ecclesias orientis, multo majorem orbis Christiani partem, qua temeritate 
criminabimur ? 



892 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

society and out of deference?' 1 Yet there seems to have been no 
adjustment, nor mutual acknowledgment of the variety in this usage ; 
but the difference continued for centuries in the different churches, till, 
in the eleventh century, it was called up afresh in the controversies of 
Nicetas Pectoratus and Humbert, which consummated the separation of 
the Romish and Greek churches. Since in these controversies our 
Constitutions are set up as testimony on the Greek side, and are rejected 
on the Roman, we have already taken the respective statements into 
particular consideration (p. 321) ; and, from the comparison, we can now 
perceive that the view of both churches in the fourth century was the 
same as in the eleventh. 

In treating on the testimony of Epiphanius (see p. 313 and p. 334), 
the difference, in the precept concerning the celebration of the Passover, 
between the Constitutions which Epiphanius had and those which we 
have, has already been exhibited. While the Constitutions which he 
had, enjoin the celebrating of the festival with the Jews, those which we 
have establish the contrary. The later interpolation, therefore, is evi- 
dent. It may be asked whether it has been effected only by the cor- 
ruption of single "words, or by the introduction of whole sentences, or of 
a whole new chapter. The latter, it is probable, is the way in which it 
has been done. The connection of the chapters remained the same, 
although an entirely new chapter was introduced, if it contained only 
directions concerning the celebration of the Passover, no matter whether 
in the Jewish or in the anti-Jewish manner. One circumstance speaks 
very much in favor of the assumption which we have made. The Con- 
stitutions which Epiphanius had, not only command the celebrating with 

1 Placetne tibi, ut medium quiddam esse dicamus, quod tamen acceptabile sit ei, qui 
hoc non simulate, sed congruenti societate atque observantia fecerit ? 

Long before Augustin, — indeed, before the time of our Constitutions, — we find 
this difference between the two churches. Originally in the East, the Jewish Christians 
adopted the celebration of the Lord's day, yet retained the celebration of the Sabbath. 
The western churches, induced by opposition to Judaism, considered the Sabbath as a 
fast-day. Already, Tcrtullian assailed the Eoman custom of setting forward the fast 
from Friday to the Sabbath. De Jejun. c. 14. Quanquam vos etiam Sabbatum si 
quando continuatis, nunquam nisi in Paschate jejunandum. On this custom there is 
found in Victorinus, bishop of Petovia in Pannonia, a testimony contemporaneous with 
our Constitutions : Hoc die solemus supcrponere ; idcirco ut die dominico cum gra- 
tiarum actionc ad pancm exeamus. Et Parasceve supcrpositio fiat, nequid cum Ju- 
dseifi Sabbatum observare videamur. Galland. Bibl. Patr. torn. iv. Our Constitutions, 
for the opposite reason, forbid the fast, because they are more inclined to the Jewish- 
Christian direction, as Ave perceived from the original Constitution respecting the Pass- 
over, preserved to us in Epiphanius. Sec Neander, Kirehengesehielite, Bd. i. Abtli. ii- 
S. 515. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FIFTH BOOK. 393 

the Jews, but also endeavor to harmonize this precept with the anti- 
Jewish usage, and to soften the opposition. At least, they attempt in 
the outset to repel the reproach of Judaism, while they endeavor to 
represent and prove that the Jewish Passover is a meal of affliction, but 
the Christian, a feast of joy ; and that the fasting of the Christians on 
the following day, on which the Jews had crucified Christ, exactly coin- 
cided with the banquet of the Jews. Thus, Heresy lxx. 11 : ' For 
the same apostles say, that when they (the Jews) banquet, do ye, fasting, 
lament for them, because on the day of the feast they crucifh d Christ ; 
and when they lament, eating unleavened bread and bitter herbs, do ye 
banquet.' 1 This passage of the Constitutions which Epiphanius had, 
proves that the custom of celebrating the Passover with the Jews was, 
in that Constitution, justified by a defence. But since the passage is not 
found in our present Constitutions, we have a right to conclude that the 
interpolator has taken away the earlier seventeenth chapter, and has 
inserted an entirely new one in its place. 

It seems impossible to doubt, that the oriental church at an early 
period rejected, in part, the Jewish reckoning of the Passover, without 
having yet adopted a general rule in its place, till the meeting of the 
Kicene Council. In the mean time, according to the statements of Euse- 
bius, several attempts were made to establish, for the celebration of the 
Passover, a canon whose computations should be exact. Thus, Eusebius 
relates that Hippolytus, about the year 220, proposed, in his book on 
the Passover, a new cycle of sixteen years. 2 Not long after, Dio- 
nysius, bishop of Alexandria, about the year 250, brought forward 
another canon, in which he endeavored to prove that the Passover ought 
not to be celebrated till after the vernal equinox. 3 

But above all, Anatolius, about the year 270, in his Paschal canons, 
attempted to set up a new opinion. By birth an Alexandrian, he seems, 
according to the testimony of Eusebius, to have been the first among 
the most learned of his time, and to have ' attained to the highest emi- 



1 Aeyovat yup ol avrol anocro?^ on orav ekecvoc EvuxtivTai, ifiEcg vtjotevovtes vTtsp 
avT&v tzev&sIte, on kv ry vuspa ttjq topTTjg rbv Xpcordv Eoravpuoav ■ nal orav avroi 

TCEvd&CL, TU U^Vjia EV TWtp'tOlV, i'/J.£ig EVUX eL0 & e - 

2 Eccles. Hist. b. vi. c. 22. At the same time, Hippolytus, who composed many 
other treatises, also wrote a work on the Passover. In this he traces back the series of 
times, and presents a certain canon comprising a period of sixteen years, on the Pass- 
over, limiting his computation of the times to the first year of the emperor Alexander. 

3 Eccles. Hist. b. vii. c. 20. Besides these epistles, the same Dionysius, about this 

time, also composed others, called his Festival Epistles, in one of which he gives 

the canon for eight years, showing that it is not proper to observe the Paschal festival 
before the vernal equinox was past. 



394 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

nence in arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy, besides his proficiency in 
dialectics, and physics, and rhetoric' Now Eusebius gives us some 
extracts from his canons on the Passover (xavdfsg neql tov nda/a), from 
which we perceive that he proposed another cycle of nineteen years, 
and endeavored to show that the Passover must be held after the 
equinox. 1 

But although Usher 2 is of the opinion that the Constitutions were 
corrupted for the purpose of harmonizing them with these attempts, yet 
this is somewhat improbable ; for, long after those attempts, Epiphanius 
still had before him the original Constitution, which must therefore have 
been corrupted first after his time. On the other hand, the Nicene 
decrees, which establish the celebration of the Passover on the Sunday 
after the full moon of the vernal equinox, may well have given occasion 
to the interpolation. This suggestion is confirmed by the fact, that in 
the Constitutions, in the interpolated chapter, the same reasons for 
departing from the Jewish custom are given, as were the reasons by 
which the Nicene Council were guided, and which Constantine adduces 
in his circular epistle to the bishops who were not at the council. The 
seventeenth chapter of this fifth book of the Constitutions assigns, as a 
reason for celebrating the Passover after the vernal equinox, 'lest ye be 
obliged to keep the memorial of the one passion twice in a year : Keep 
it once only in a year for him that died but once.' 3 In like manner, 
Constantine says, in general, that it is wrong to celebrate the festival 
with the hostile Jews, who deviate so far from the proper correction as 
to celebrate the Passover a second time in the same year. 4 

The following chapter bears the title, 'A Constitution concerning 
the great week of the Passover' (Ai&ra$ig nsgl irjc fiey&Xrjg tov nua/a 
efido/Liadog) ; but this superscription seems to us to have been inserted, 
not originally, but at a late period. For our conjecture several reasons 
present themselves, each of which helps to sustain the others. The 
name, the great week (eSdouug f/eydlrj^ and, among the Latins, some- 
times hebdomas magna, and sometimes septimana major), is found 
neither in the writers of the second century, nor in those of the third. 
Since now this designation, the great week, is not found at all in 



1 Eceles. Hist. b. vii. c. 32. From the canons of Anatolius on the Paschal festival : 
You have, therefore, in the first year, the new moon of the first month, which is the 
beginning of every cycle of nineteen years. 

2 Prolegom. in Epist. Ignat c. 9. 

3 "O~wo fiT] dig tov tviavrov, ivog rrad-f/fiarog fiveiav noieTatie, u?2<i anal; tov irevg. 

4 Euseb. De Vita Constantini, lib. iii. c. 18. . . . <5ff (ty Kant to ttIhgtov ainovg ~la- 
rufiivovg Tt/r 7rpoo'r)iiovo?]S Exavopduaeug, tcj avno frei devTepbv to naoxa hruTe"k£tv. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FIFTH BOOK. 395 

the contexture of the first seven books of the Constitutions, it is highly 
probable that it has come into the superscription of this eighteenth 
chapter, from b. viii. c. 33, where it is found for the first time, as used 
by Chrysostom. 

Now this chapter contains nothing else that seems to indicate a later 
time. There are regulations given on the fast during the time of the 
Passover. 1 In this week, for instance, there was to be fasting not only 
on the Sabbath (Saturday), but also on several other days. Among 
the Greeks this fast was called tixFQdevFig ; among the Latins, super- 
positiones. The number of the days, at different times, was different ; 
at least, several writers state them variously. Some added to this fast 
one day, others two, and still others, three, four, or five days. This is 
stated by Irena?us in a passage preserved by Eusebius. 2 Our Constitu- 
tions, now, in c. 18, command to fast during six days ('beginning from 
the second day of the week, until the Preparation and the Sabbath, six 
days'): and enjoin the use of only bread, salt, herbs, and water; and 
abstinence from wine and flesh ; for, it is added, ' they are days of 
lamentation, and not of feasting.' Then they further command that 
' such as are able fast the day of the Preparation and the Sabbath-day 
entirely, taking nothing till the cock-crowing of the night. But if any 
one is not able to join them both together, at least let him observe the 
Sabbath-day as a fast.' If now we look at the accounts of other writ- 
ers on the Paschal fast, we find altogether the same as in our Constitu- 
tions. Thus Epiphanius tells us exactly the same that they prescribe ; 
and indeed, what is well worthy of consideration, he represents it as a 
custom exceedingly ancient. ' The six days of the Passover all the 
people pass in abstinence ; that is, then using bread, and salt, and water, 
at evening; but also the zealous superadd two, and three, and four days' 
and some all the week, till the cock-crowing, as the Lord's day dawns.' 3 



1 In the chapter itself it is said, ' In the days, therefore, of the Passover, fast ' 
(ev rale y/xipaic ovv rov iraoxa vrjorevere). The expression, the great week, is not used 
at all, though the precepts are given concerning the days of tins week. Besides, there 
are found in the ancients very many names for this -week: Ila^a oravpuoiftov, ej36o- 
we Tcov ay'cuv -xaduv, eSdoftac rov our/jpiov tto^ouo, e/3do//ac cnrpuKToc (inofficiosa, muta, 
silent week); hebdomas authentica, pcenosa. ultima, that is, the last in the ecclesiasti- 
cal year. But the first seven hooks of our Constitutions always use the same desig- 
nation, the days of the Passover {at hfiipat rov iraoxa). 

2 Eccles. Hist. b. v. c. 24. For some think that they ought to fast only one day ; 
some two, some more days. Some compute their day as consisting of forty hours, 
night and day. 

3 Epiph. Exposit. Fid. Cathol. n. 22. Tuo 6e e£ y/xepac rov iraoxa ev frpodayia dta- 
rehovot navTeg ol ?mol ■ (f>?j/j,l de upro nal alt kqX vdan tote xpupevoi irpbg eoirepav • d/t/ta 



396 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

From this passage of Epiphanius, it is undeniable that it was not a 
custom which arose first in his time, but was one which before his 
time was already prevalent ; — a supposition which coincides well with 
the precept in our Constitutions. But there are also other evidences, 
that we can ascribe this custom to no later age than the one in which we 
have placed the origin of our Constitutions. First, as to the abstinence 
(or, as the Greek word here used literally signifies, the eating of dry 
food), this is found earlier in the church, and was enjoined as a law by 
the Montanistic party. But that the precepts given in our Constitutions 
on fasting were already in use in the third century, is proved especially 
by a passage in the Epistle of Dionysius of Alexandria to Basilides. 
Not all, says he, spend the six days of the fasts with equal strictness 
nor in a similar manner ; but some superadd all the days, passing them 
without food ; some, two days, some three, some four, and some none. 1 
Then he contends against those who, in the four preceding days, have 
not fasted at all, or have spent them even in banqueting, but then have 
fasted the last two days, and now think they have done something great. 
Dionysius is of the opinion that those persons would stand higher, who, 
after they had fasted on the other days, and were fatigued and enfeebled, 
should take some food before the end of those two' days. Therefore, 
in this also Dionysius agrees with our Constitutions. 

The nineteenth chapter treats now concerning the vigils on the Great 
Sabbath (magnum Sabbatum). It is the only Sabbath which the Chris- 
tian church has retained and celebrated from among the Jewish Sab- 
bath days. The dogma which lay at the basis of the celebration of this 
day is unquestionably the descending of the Saviour into the infernal 
world. This we perceive very clearly from that well-known homily 
which Epiphanius held on the holy and great Sabbath. 2 Though the 
day celebration of this Sabbath was kept, yet the night celebration was 
the most impressive ; and among all the vigils, that of the great and 
holy night was the most commended. In the chapter before us, the 
Constitutions mention nothing of the doctrine of Christ's descent into 
hell, but only give command that the fast continue till the cock-crowing, 
and then cease ; that in the mean time there be watching and praying in 
the church all night, the reading of the Law, the Prophets, and the 



kcu ol o-ovdaioi dnrluc, not TpnrAuc, nal rerpa Tivlaf v7repTtd-£vraL nai b"krjv t?/v £(Sdo[iada 
nvec (ixfM uXeKTpvovo)!' l/m) } ?/c, rrjg nvpiaKTjs kmQuoiiovorjS. 

1 Dionysius Alex, in Epist. ad Basilidem. 'ETrei fiTjde tuc £f rwv vrjcrreiibv v/nipag 
"mug fijjde 6fioiag nuv-eg 6tave/iovaiv uXK ol /nev nal iruaac VTtepTL&moiv ugltol diars- 
?.ovvreg, ol 6e dvo, ol fie rpelg, ol ds Teoaapag, ol 6e ov6efiiav : &c. 

2 Epiphan. Opp. ed. Petav. torn. ii. p. 259 — 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FIFTH BOOK. 397 

Psalms, the baptizing of catechumens, the reading of the Gospel with 
fear and trembling, and the speaking to the people of such things as 
pertain to their salvation. At this time, as in the following centuries, 
this vigil was preeminently the season for baptism among the Chris- 
tians, probably because a special efficacy was ascribed to baptism into 
the death of Christ. The explanation of this custom is very near at 
hand ; for, as we have already had occasion to remark, it must have its 
basis in the decisions of the apostle in Rom. 6 : 3-5 (' Know ye not that 
so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into 
his death' (rig iov d&vcaov afaov tfiumlodrmev} ? and in 1 Cor. 15 : 29 
(' baptized for the dead,' @anTil;6[ievot, vnkq jwv y.ey.qiov) ; for thisjbaptisni 
in the vigil of the great Sabbath was truly a baptism for the dead. 
There have come down to us the most splendid and spirited descriptions 
of this vigil. Chrysostom mentions it often, and describes it quite 
amply, and seems to have been very enthusiastic in favor of its celebra- 
tion. Palladius calls it the angelic night, in which the demons them- 
selves sink down with trembling. 1 It is quite aside from our task to set 
forth the painting of this vigil, in the later Gregory of Nazianzum, 
Chrysostom, Socrates. Jerome, and Lactantius ; but here we shall still 
have to answer the question, whether the mention of the custom agrees 
with the age in which, according to our judgment, the Constitutions were 
written, or whether this custom did not first arise in the fourth century. 
Still the last is by no means the case. Before Epiphanius, Eusebius 
mentions the celebration of this vigil. He joyfully relates, that the 
emperor Constantine lent the splendor of the day to the holy night cele- 
bration ; that high pillars of wax were lighted everywhere throughout 
the place ; and that torches illuminated the whole city. 3 The entire nar- 
ration, which presupposes the celebration of this vigil as a well-known 
solemnity of the Christian church, is of such a kind as of itself to prove 
that the celebration of the vigil of the great Sabbath was customary 
already in the third century. But on this matter we have, even from 
the third century, several express testimonies. For example : a passage 
of Tertullian proves that in his time this vigil of the Passover was 



1 Pallad. Vit. Chrysostomi, c. 9, p. 84 — , ed. Par. where he copiously describes how 
the soldiers interrupted the celebration of this vigil, and fell upon the Christians ; tote tjv 
idelv ttjv uyyelui7)v vvkto,, ev if nal daifiovec; miiiovcc ettt^xotec, etc Xaflvpivdov /j,eto.- 
(3l7}$£toav. A translation of the homily of Cyprian on the holy Sabbath, and of two 
sermons pf Augustin on the holy Easter vigils (Opp. ed. Benedict, torn. v. pt. ii. serm. 
219-223, p. 962—), is given by Augusti, Bd. ii. S. 168— ; and ii. S. 127 — . 

2 Compare Werensdorf, De Constanrini M. religione paschali ad Euseb. de Vita 
Const. M. lib. iv. c. 22 ; Viteb. 1758, 4to : where the whole passage is historically illus- 
trated. 



398 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

attended by all Christians, by women as well as by men. He speaks 
zealously against the marriage of Christian women with heathen men, 
and adduces as a reason to dissuade them from these marriages, that no 
heathen would quietly permit his wife to withdraw herself from him 
during the night for the purpose of participating in the solemnities of the 
Passover. 1 In the precept of the Constitutions, c. 19, 'And let this be 
an everlasting ordinance till the consummation of the world, until the 
Lord come,' 2 there could already perhaps be the view, that, on this 
night, Christ will come to judge the world. At a later period, it was 
pretty generally prevalent. 3 

Near the end of the chapter it is commanded, after eight days to cel- 
ebrate the eighth day, the so-called octave, as a festival : (' After eight 
days let there be another feast observed with honor, the eighth day 
itself.') It was considered as an after-celebration of Easter, and in 
remembrance of the satisfying of Thomas in respect to the certainty of 
the resurrection of Christ. Our Constitutions, too, give the same reason 
for it, while they suddenly make Thomas himself relate the matter. 
Hence it comes, that among the Greeks this Sunday is called Thomas's 
Lord's day (Kvgiay.i) iov 0w//5 4 ); while among the Latins, as is well 
known, this Sunday is called White Sunday (Dominica in albis), from 
the white baptismal dresses which the catechumens wore, for the last 
time, on that day. 

The conclusion of the chapter is certainly very remarkable, for in it 
the celebration of the feast of the Ascension is commanded ; — certainly 



1 Tertull. ad Uxor. lib. ii. c. 4. Quis solemnibus Paschas abnoetantem securus sus- 
tinebit? — But abuses early crept into these vigils. Hence the council at Elvira (in 
the year 305) canon xxxv. forbade the females all participation in the vigils. 

2 Kal rovro vfdv eorc) vofiifiov aiuviov, ewe r?/c cvvre'kelaQ rev aiuvoc, [i£XP c £ " v e^## 
6 Kvptog. 

3 Lactant. Inst. Div. 1. vii. c. 19. Haec est nox, quae nobis propter adventum Regis 
ac Dei nostri, pervigilio celebratur : cujus noctis duplex ratio est, quod in ea et vitam 
turn recepit, cum passus est ; et postea orbis terra? regnum receptum est. 

And Jerome on Matt, xxv. 6. Traditio Judteorum est, Christum media nocte ven- 
turum, in similitudinem iEgyptii temporis, quando Pascha celcbratum est, et extermi- 
nator venit, et dominus super tabemacula transiit, et sanguine agni postcs nostrarum 
frontium consecratas sunt. Unde reor et traditionem apostolicam permansisse. v.: 
in die vigiliarum Pascha?, ante noctis dimidium, populos dimittere non licet, expeetan- 
tes adventum Christi. Et postquam illud tempus transient, securitate prrcsumpta, fes 
turn cunctos agerc diem. 

4 Probably tbis appellation among the Greeks was occasioned by the passage, John 
20 : 19 — , to which our Constitutions seem to have had regard. In a way very similar 
the name Quasimodogeniti [as new-born) for this day, became, at a later period, usual in 
Lhe Latin church, from the Latin translation of 1 Pet. 2 : 2. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FIFTH BOOK. 399 

the earliest testimony respecting it that has come to us from the ancients. 
Hitherto, the passage in b. v. c. 19, so far as I know, has always been 
overlooked ; and in the archaeological investigations respecting this festi- 
val, only b. viii. c. 33 has been adduced. ' And again ' (says the pas- 
sage here in the fifth book), 'from the first Lord's day count forty days, 
from the Lord's day till the fifth day of the week, and celebrate the feast 
of the Ascension of the Lord, whereon he finished all his dispensation, 
and constitution, and returned to that God and Father who sent him.' 
This passage seems manifestly to testify for the celebration of this feast 
towards the end of the third century. But since all the five books bear 
on themselves the impress of that time, as we think we have sufficiently 
shown, all these earlier proofs must, in advance, favor the opinion that 
the celebration of this feast had then become customary. It may be 
asked, whether there are not other reasons by which this is sustained. 
It is difficult, indeed, through testimonies of the ancients, to prove that 
the festival was already celebrated in the end of the third century. 
Mention of it occurs first in Chrysostom, in many passages, 1 and fre- 
quently in the writers of his and of later times. Epiphanius also, 
and Gregory of Nyssa, presuppose that it was commonly known ; and 
they have even written homilies upon it. 2 About the middle of the 
fourth century, therefore, the origin of this feast was spoken of as belong- 
ing to a very early time. 

Finally, we have from Augustin five copious sermons on the festival 
of which we have been speaking. One of these is specially remarkable, 
and is distinguished by several peculiarities. 3 Besides, there is another 
passage in Augustin where this is reckoned among the great festivals ; 
indeed, where he almost derives it from the apostles. 4 Although he is 
wavering in his judgment (either from the apostles themselves or from 
plenary councils), yet so much at least is certain, namely, that he 
ascribed to it a high antiquity, and placed its origin long before his own 



1 Chrysost. Homil. in Assump. NDv ore rov OTavpodevroe rfjv avaXqrpiv uyofiev, 
tt]v oaidpuv ravrrjv ml k^acTpa-nrovGav ri[iipav — . Homil. 2. in Pentecost. Upcirjv 
(j£v ovv eupraoaiiev rov cravpov rb Tradog, tt/v avaaraoiv, fiera ravra ttjv eig ovpavbv 
uvodov rov nvpiov fyutiv 'lijaov Xpiarov. 

2 Epiphan. ~Eig rf/v uvukrjTpLV rov nvpiov r/fiov 'Irjcov Xpcarov. Opp. ed. Petav. t. vi. 
Paris. 1622. p. 205 — . Gregorins Nyssen. Opp. ed. Paris. Morel. 1615, t. ii. p. 873 — . 

3 See Augnsti's Denkwtirdigkeiten, Bd. vi. S. 372. 

4 Augustini Epist. 118. Ilia, quaa non scripta, sed tradita custodimus, quae quidem 
toto terrarum orbc observantur, datur intelligi, vel ab ipsis apostolis vel plenariis con- 
ciliis. quorum in ecclesia saluberrima auctoritas, commendata atque statuta retineri. 
Sicut quod Domini passio ct resurrcctio et adscensio in ccelum ct advcntus de ccelo 
Spiritus Sancti anniversaria solemnitatc celebrantur. 



400 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

time. If the result is similar that is derived from the citations and 
homilies of Epiphanius, and Gregory of Nyssa, who, not less than 
Augustin, seem to have admitted an earlier origin of the feast of the 
Ascension, shall we not be justified, in connection with our passage in 
b. v. c. 19, to assume that the celebration of this festival came into use 
towards the end of the third century ; and that, therefore, the mention of 
it furnishes no evidence against the opinion advanced by us in respect to 
the time when the Constitutions were written? 

Let it be conceded that we cannot strictly prove the universal cele- 
bration of this festival towards the end of the third century : although 
Origen against Celsus, b. viii. c. 22, manifestly considers the feast of the 
Resurrection as the point of beginning to the feast of Pentecost, yet this 
would not overthrow the assertion that in the Constitutions about this 
time [towards the end of the third century], the celebration of this feast 
is commanded, even while it was not yet universal. But that the feet 
of Christ's ascension was esteemed as highly as that of his resurrection, 
is sufficiently proved by its having been received into all the symbols 
and rules of faith. 

It is possible, indeed probable, that, at the time of our Constitu- 
tions, the celebration of the feast of the Ascension was in its beginning, 
and gradually became customary; that, too, it was not yet reckoned 
among the great festivals, which was first done in the fourth century. 
This opinion seems to be favored also by our passage in the Constitu- 
tions. Here the celebration of the feast is commanded with entire sim- 
plicity, without its being reckoned a great feast, and without there 
being ordered for it any special solemnities. There is merely a refer- 
ence to the occasion of its being instituted ; namely, that Christ, on this 
day, entered into his glory with the Father. 

If we turn now to c. 20, this is not less worthy of consideration. In 
it the feast of Pentecost is commanded ; and precepts are given for the 
time after the ending of this feast. { But,' it is there said, ' after ten 
days from the ascension, which from the first Lord's day is the fiftieth 
day, do ye keep a great festival : for on that day, at the third hour, 
the Lord Jesus sent on us the gift of the Holy Ghost, and we were filled 
with his energy, and we spake with new tongues, as that Spirit sug- 
gested to us ; and we preached both to Jews and Gentiles, that he is 
the Christ of God, who is determined by him to be the Judge of the 
living and the dead.' Were the assertion true, which some have made, 
that the feast of Pentecost was not celebrated as a distinct festival 
before the fourth century, this would overthrow the assertion which we 
have made respecting the first seven books of the Constitutions ; or, at 
least, it would speak against this twentieth chapter. But this is not 



INVESTIGATION ON THE FIFTH BOOK. 401 

at all the case ; and it can be proved that the feast of Pentecost was one 
of the first Christian festivals. None of the Old Testament feasts 
passed over so easily into a Christian one. The thanksgiving for the 
first-fruits of the harvest, was analogous to the thanksgiving for the 
nourishment of the Spirit, through the higher gift of the heavenly 
Father ; as the remembrance of the giving of the law on Sinai, was 
analogous to the remembrance of the higher revelation of the spiritual 
law in Christ. Here, indeed, a difference in the celebration of this fes- 
tival must not be overlooked, namely, that, at first, the feast of Pente- 
cost embraced the whole time of fifty days between the Passover and 
the Pentecost, and that it was not till a later period that it was under- 
stood to be a festival lasting only one day. But while we fully admit 
this difference, we assert that the one-day festival of Pentecost, as it is 
commanded in our Constitutions, already occurs in the third century. 
That the festival, in the first sense given above, [that is, embracing the 
fifty days,] was introduced early, is generally admitted, and is also suffi- 
ciently proved by the testimonies of the ancients, especially of Tertul- 
lian. 1 In favor of the celebration of the feast of Pentecost as a distinct 
festival, about the middle of the third century, we have also the clear 
testimony of Epiphanius in his homilies, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory 
of Nazianzum. Not only this, however, do they prove; but since, in 
their time, the feast was quite general and ancient, we may well assume 
that towards the end of the third century the one-day celebration of this 
festival had begun to be customary. In the testimony of Origen, the 
transition, as it were, from the earlier custom to the later seems to us to 
be indicated. 2 Besides, if now the passage in Augustin (Epist. 118, 
to Januarius), already adduced by us, calls attention to a very ancient 
origin of the distinct feast of Pentecost, it is probable, that the celebra- 
tion of this distinct one-day feast was in use at the end of the third cen- 
tury. 3 For, had this not been the case, we cannot conceive how Epi- 
phanius, Gregory of Nyssa, and others could presuppose the general 



1 Tertull. De Idololatr. c. 14. Ethnicis semel annuus dies quisque festus est : tibi 
octavo quoque die ; excerpe singulas solemnitates nationum, et. in ordinem texe, Pentecosteri 
implere non poterunt ; also De Baptismo, c. 19; together with Can. xx. Concil. 
Antioch. 

2 Orig. c. Cels. lib. viii. c. 22. 'Eav de rig irpbg ravra uvdviroQepn ra irepl tuv Trap' 
ijfuv KvpiaKuv, rj TrapacKevcJv t) tov iraaxa t) tt)q irevTeKOGTTjg, &c. Here it seems as if 
Origen considered the feast of Pentecost as a distinct one, although still in connection 
-with the feast of the Resurrection, and as a conclusion of the Quinquagesima. 

3 This might also be confirmed by the fact that the canon xliii. of the council of 
Elvira in Spain, AD. 305. understands, by the Pentecost, only the feast of the outpour- 
ing of the Holy Spirit. 

26 



402 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

observance of this festival. 1 Our Constitutions, by their precepts, may 
have been the very means of promoting the celebration of Pentecost as 
a distinct festival. 

In the Latin church, the Pentecost cycle closed with the Pentecost 
octave, that is, with the Trinity festival. The oriental Greek church, 
however, has never celebrated this feast, but its octave was the feast of 
All Saints (iogiri napxwv aylwv). But, manifestly, this Pentecost octave, 
in the oriental Greek church, first became usual at a late period, after 
the feast of Pentecost had already, for a long time, been celebrated in 
this church as a distinct feast ; although it is true that, among the Greeks, 
the honoring of saints came into vogue much earlier than among the 
Latins, and that the Greeks celebrated the festival of All Saints centuries 
earlier. The proof of this is furnished by our Constitutions. For in them, 
no trace occurs of such a celebration of the Pentecost octave in honor of 
the saints ; indeed, not a single trace of a Pentecost octave ; although, 
in our Constitutions, precepts are expressly given respecting the time 
after the celebration of Pentecost : ' Therefore after ye have kept the 
festival of Pentecost, keep one week as a festival ; and, after that, fast 
one.' 2 Further on it is said, ' After this week of fasting, we command 
you to fast every fourth day of the week and every day of the Prepara- 
tion, and what is saved by your fasting bestow upon the needy/ This fast, 
therefore, at this earliest time, occupied the place of the later Pentecost 
octave, the feast of All Saints. Perhaps, about the same time, it was 
identical with the so-called fast in honor of the holy apostles (jejunium 
in honorem S. Apostolorum) ; and, at a later period, as a new Pente- 
cost octave became usual, the feast of All Apostles was transferred to 
the first of May. But, however this may be, it is certain that the fast 
after the feast of Pentecost arose long before the Pentecost octave. 
Still, in the time of Leo the Great, this fast was in use ; and he himself 
commends it in a discourse, very urgently, and paints it as an apostolic 
institute of the highest importance. 3 If this now is not according to 
the truth, it is equally wrong to assert, as some have done, that the 
fast after the feast of Pentecost came in the place of the abrogated 
vigils. The assertion is contradicted by the testimony of our Constitu- 
tions, which enjoin the fast after the feast of Pentecost, while the vigils 
still belonged to the highest solemnities. 



1 See extracts from their homilies, in Augusti's Denkw. Bd. ii. S. 394 — . 

2 B. v. c. 20. 

3 Sermo primus de Jejunio Pentecostes, ed. Par. 1641. p. 77. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SIXTH BOOK. 403 



Investigation on the Sixth Booh of the Constitutions. 

This sixth book is superscribed On Schisms (nsgl a^iafidjotp) ; but, 
like the other books, it contains precepts which cannot be included under 
this superscription. Still, all its parts cohere well with each other ; 
and, where it shall be necessary, we shall speak with reference to their 
connection. For example : After, through a series of chapters, the her- 
esies are spoken of, their destructiveness portrayed, and proved by 
examples, the Constitutions reject the baptism which was administered 
by heretics. Then they give warning of the many falsely-styled apos- 
tolical writings, which, i under our name,' that is, the name of the apos- 
tles, were written for the corruption of the church. 

The first chapter begins with a warning to take heed of all heresies ; 
for those persons who ventured to cause divisions would not escape the 
merited punishment. Here the Constitutions always appeal to exam- 
ples taken from the Old Testament, and the destructiveness of heresies 
and divisions is particularly shown in the Jewish people. In the same 
general strain as the first three chapters, are also the following. The 
fourth says : ' But do ye, brethren, who are instructed out of the Scrip- 
ture, take care not to make divisions in opinion.' Here the bishops 
seem to be exhorted to unanimity ; for it is added : ' In like manner, ye 
of the laity, come not near to such as advance doctrines contrary to the 
mind of God.' The fifth chapter proceeds : ' For those are most cer- 
tainly to be avoided who blaspheme God.' With this is connected 
again a copious exhibition of the fearful destruction which has proceeded 
from heresies ; and this is particularly proved by declarations of the 
prophets. 1 

The sixth chapter shows that various heretical doctrines, abhorred of 
God, arose also among the Jews. Here, now, the author of the Consti- 
tutions names, first, the Sadducees, who deny the. resurrection of the 
dead ; and the Pharisees, who attribute to chance and to fate the actions 
of those who do amiss ; 2 and the Basmotheans, who deny the Providence 
of God, and assert that all arose from accidental motion, and take away 



1 'E« yap TTjg Kaidaq tuv alpeaajTcov e^Me fioXvafia em ndaav rrjv yrjv, 6g <pr)civ 
'lepefiiag 6 Trpo^rrjg. See Jer. 23 : 15. 

2 On this opinion of the Pharisees there are also some similar testimonies in ancient 
writers. Josephus, Antiq. of the Jews, b. 13, c. 9, and b. 18, 2. Hieronym. ii. adv. 
Pelag. 10. Pharisaeorum est hoc supercilium, ut peccata propria? voluntatis referant 
ad conditoris injuriam et illius justitiam calumnientur. 



404 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

the immortality of the soul. 1 Among the heretics are then mentioned 
also the Hemerobaptists 2 and the Ebionites. On the contrary, the 
Essenes are commended as those who have separated themselves from 
all these, and observe the usages of the land of their fathers. 3 The 
Ebionites, therefore, are here reckoned among the Jewish heretics, and 
designated as those who made their appearance in the times of the 
apostles (oi e<p ^wv cpuvkvxEg), and asserted that the Son of God was 
nothing but a man, who was begotten through the connection of Joseph 
with Mary. 

But now the author of the Constitutions passes to the heresies of the 
Christian church, and endeavors, first, in c. 7, to show whence the here- 
sies arose, and who was the author of these evils. He relates that the 
apostle Philip, through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, had performed in 
Samaria many wonderful cures, and that the Samaritans had hence 
been led to faith in God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and had been bap- 
tized. Simon also became a believer, when he saw that the wonders 
were performed without magic ; and he was baptized. Then, the Con- 
stitutions further state, Simon requested us, the apostles, to bestow on 
him, for money, the gift of imparting the Holy Spirit to others. Here, 
and in the following chapters, Simon Magus is introduced as the author 
of the heresies, and especially as the father of the Gnostic sects. Our 
Constitutions have this in common with all the writers of the ancient 
church, that they ascribe to this magician a peculiar importance. In 
the whole circle of pseudo-Clementine writings, he generally plays an 
important part ; and it is manifest that Simon Magus, too, was a col- 
lective name, which had to represent the theosophic-poetic tendency. 
Properly speaking, he could hardly be reckoned among the Christian 
heretics ; for he had attached himself quite as much to Judaism, and to 
a heathenish, theosophic-poetic tendency, as to Christianity. But how it 
could happen, that he acquired special importance in the ancient church, 



1 On the Basmotheans,* or Masbotheans, Eusebius treats in his Ecclesiastical His- 
tory, b. iv. c. 22, where he quotes from Hegesippus. Those heretics are said also to 
have celebrated the Sabbath, whence they were also called Sabbatini. 

2 Kal 'HfiepopanTLOTCU, olriveg /cat?' e/caarTjv i]p,ipav euv firj /3aTTTiauvTat, ovk eadiov- 
civ, aXka Kal raf nXivaq Kal rovg ixivaKag 7jtoi Kparrjpag Kal ■KOTtjpia Kal /cai9 to/mra eav 
fin Kadupuotv vfiari, ovdevl xpuvrai. 

3 It is well known that the accounts in Philo, and in Josephus, concerning this sect, 
do not agree. While Philo, in his book on the True Freedom of the Virtuous, repre- 
sents them merely as practically religious men (to tj-^lkov ev fiuXa dianovovac, aXe'nr- 
rate xP^f lf:vot TOi S naTpioig vdfioig), Josephus ascribes to them theosophy and oriental 
speculation. Our Constitutions, now, relate almost the same as Philo ; yet Josephus 
is the more credible. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SIXTH BOOK. '405 

is to be explained only by supposing that he very soon became a mythic 
personage. Our Constitutions can prove this. In b. vi. c. 9, they relate 
expressly that Simon Magus came to Rome, and by his magic arts 
deceived and attracted all. ' But on a certain time, as he was gone into 
the theatre,' proceeds Peter, ' he commanded the people to bring me 
also into the theatre ; and then he undertook to fly through the air ; and 
as, raised on high by demons, he soared aloft in the air, he said that 
he was going to heaven, and would thence bestow favors upon them. 
While now the whole people honored him as a god, I besought God, 
through the Lord Jesus, to cast down the destroyer, to curtail the power 
of the demons, who used it for the seduction and perdition of men, to 
dash him against the ground, and bruise him, but not to kill him.' It 
was done, according to the prayer. Upon this, some forsook Simon ; 
but others persevered in his destructive doctrine. ' And thus,' Peter 
concludes his narration, ' this most atheistical heresy first fixed itself in 
Pome.' From this account it is evident that, at the time when the Con- 
stitutions were made, Simon had already become fully a mythical person ; 
and if we read in the Recognitions, and in the Clementines, the accounts 
of the disputations of Peter with Simon Magus, these, which bear in 
themselves a thoroughly mythic character, can only confirm our view. 

Among the disciples and followers of Simon, are here named 
Cleobius, Dositheus, Manancler, Basilides, and Saturnilus ; whom we 
pass over, since nothing new is said concerning them. Still, it ought 
here to be mentioned, that our Constitutions mention the sect of the 
Nicolaitans, and assert that they are wrongfully thus named. The 
deacon Nicolaus, therefore, is here defended against the reproach of 
being the founder of this sect. It has indeed been questioned, whether 
there ever was such a sect ; but, in respect to this, after the united tes- 
timonies of Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Epiphanius, 
Jerome, and others, there can be no doubt, although it is not fully ascer- 
tained, whether the later sect of Nicolaitans is one and the same with 
that which existed in the apostolic age. (See Rev. 2 : 6-15.) It is in 
the highest degree uncertain whether this sect proceeded from the well- 
known deacon Nicolaus, and on this point the testimonies of the ancients 
are contradictory. Irenasus, who describes it, derives it from the deacon 
Nicolaus, and ascribes to it pernicious excesses. 1 The same do our 
Constitutions, in this sixth book, c. 8 : ' Some are impudent in unclean- 
ness, such as those who are falsely called Nicolaitans.' 2 According to 



1 In his work Adv. Hoereses, lib. i. c. 26. Qui indiscrete (udiacpopug) vivunt. 

2 01 6e avaidrjv eK-opvivovctv, hoi bi vvv ipevduvv/ioi NtKoXalrai. 



406' ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Clement of Alexandria, they held the pernicious principle, that men 
might give themselves up to their lusts, and yet not be affected by 
them, but abuse the flesh. 1 As our Constitutions, in another passage, 2 
use almost the same words to describe a heresy, which, however, they 
do not expressly name, so it seems, that they also here meant the Nico- 
laitan heresy. In the expression, ' as those who are falsely called Nico- 
laitans,' it is too evident to admit of mistake, that the author of the Con- 
stitutions wished not to derive this sect from the deacon Nicolaus, since 
he found the designation false. Clement of Alexandria, also, at an 
earlier period, had already pronounced the derivation false, and vindi- 
cated the character of Nicolaus. Irengeus, probably through misunder- 
standing Rev. 2 : 6-15, has occasioned the error, which, besides, is 
found also in many writers since his time. 

Moreover, in c. 8, it is related, that in the disputation of Peter with 
Simon Magus, Zaccheus and Barnabas were present. It is remarkable 
that it is then added, ' And Nicetas and Aquila, brothers of Clement the 
bishop and citizen of Rome.' Here, therefore, is a passage where Cle- 
ment is named, and yet not prominently, but, as it were, only as con- 
nected with Nicetas and Aquila. Therefore, also, Clement is here not 
represented as in a relation to our Constitutions. In the second place, 
the addition also, ' Who was the disciple of Paul, our fellow-apostle, and 
fellow-helper in the gospel,' is striking. For although it contains no 
contradiction against our Constitutions, since in them nothing occurs on 
the conversion of Clement, yet it contains an open contradiction against 
the general tradition, and against other pseudo-Clementine writings, 
namely, against the Recognitions, in which Barnabas is named as the 
first through whom the proclamation of the gospel was imparted to 
Clement, till, at a later time, the apostle Peter, not Paul, completed his 
conversion. 

In opposition to the mentioned heresies, now in c. 11 and onward, the 
contents of the apostolical preaching are given, and those things named, 
in which one must separate himself from the heretics. Already (p. 339), 
c. 14 has been exhibited by us as that chapter in which the apostles 
express themselves on the tendency and object of the Constitutions, — 
that they had written this universal canon of doctrine for the refutation of 
all heresies, and for the strengthening and confirmation of all believers. 

But the contents of c. 15 are very essential for us, in which the bap- 



1 Stromat. p. 411, . . . to delv napaxpyo&at t?) aapKt. 

2 B. vi. c. 10 : ' But others teach, that men ought to be impudent in uncleanncss, 
and to abuse the flesh, and to go through all unholy practices, as if this were the only 
way for the soul to avoid the rulers of this world.' 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SIXTH BOOK. 407 

tism of the heretics is entirely rejected, and is represented as a pollution. 
From this chapter we shall draw a conclusion with great determinate- 
ness in respect to the age of our Constitutions. 

Our Constitutions express themselves, concerning the baptism of 
heretics, in the following manner : * Be ye likewise contented with one 
baptism alone, that which is into the death of the Lord ; not that which 
is conferred by wicked heretics, but that which is conferred by unblama- 
ble priests in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Ghost ; and let not that which cometh from the ungodly be received by 
you ; nor let that which is done by the godly be annulled by a second. 
.... But those that receive polluted baptism from the ungodly will 
become partners in their opinions.' All this, and the whole succeeding 
contents of the chapter, lead us to infer that it was written at a time 
when the controversy respecting baptism administered by heretics had 
already become very violent, and had proceeded to an open division. 
Already, from a very early period, differences in the church had pre- 
vailed on the question, how, in respect to baptism, one should conduct 
himself towards him who had received baptism in a heretical sect, and 
now came over to the Catholic church. In respect to this, in the mid- 
dle of the second century, there was a diversity of opinion, and a diver- 
sity of practice had sprung up, according to the different points of view 
from which the matter had been contemplated. The church in Asia 
Minor, which, ascribed validity to all acts of religion only in so far as 
they were practised by the Catholic church, regarded the baptism of the 
heretics as not a correct one, and was of the opinion that the true bap- 
tism must follow the coming over to the Catholic church. In the Western 
church, however, the opposite practice had come into use. Still, no 
particular controversy had arisen on these different views. The subject 
was conversed on, quietly, as we may perceive from Tertullian. 1 Two 
councils, the one at Carthage, after the year 200 (see Cyprian's Epis- 
tles, 71 and 73) ; the other at Iconium, solemnly confirmed the Asiatic 
usage in respect to baptism. From the whole, we perceive that, in any 
case, our Constitution, in b. vi. c. 15, must have been written later; 
for the violent, passionate, all-excluding opposition shows clearly that it 
must have been written at a time, when vehement controversies had 
arisen in respect to the baptism administered by heretics. If we pursue 
further the question concerning this baptism, we find that, in the second 



1 De Baptismo, c. 15. De Prescrip. c. 12, and De Pudicit, c. 19. Tertullian, it is 
in the highest degree probable, wrote his treatise on Baptism, as a member of the 
catholic or general cburch ; but in that work he sometimes expressed a view different 
from that which prevailed in the west. 



408 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

half of the third century, it occasioned the most frequent controversies 
and separations ; it was, therefore, exactly at the time in which we have 
placed the origin of our Constitutions. 

Stephen, bishop of Rome, it was, who, animated by the hierarchical 
spirit and authority, withdrew ecclesiastical fellowship from the churches 
in Asia Minor, towards the end of the year 253, and denominated them 
Anabaptists ^AvuSumioiat). This must naturally have produced, on 
the other side, hatred and bitterness ; and soon the difference of opinion 
proceeded to an open reproach. The church in North Africa, with Cyp- 
rian at its head, examined the matter, and adopted the opinion that the 
baptism imparted by heretics, was not valid. It was preeminently Cyp- 
rian, who with vehemence defended this opinion, which agreed so well 
with his whole mode of viewing ecclesiastical life. 1 Stephen, with 
pride and contempt, replied to Cyprian, who, in gentle terms, had made 
known to him this decree of the council. He broke off ecclesiastical 
communion with the North African church ; and, instead of all argu- 
ments, he urged the Roman tradition. 2 Cyprian, on the other hand, 
arranged a still more numerous council of seventy-eight bishops (A.D. 
258), who expressed themselves in the most decided and zealous manner 
against the Roman opinion. If now we look again at our Constitutions, 
we readily see that this ' Constitution,' in b. vi. c. 15, is given in refer- 
ence to these controversies, and expresses itself not less vehemently, 
when it says, ' Nor indeed are those that are baptized by them initiated, 
but are polluted, not receiving the remission of sins, but the bond of im- 
piety. And besides, they that attempt to baptize those already initiated 
crucify the Lord afresh, slay him a second time, laugh at divine, and 
ridicule holy things, affront the Spirit, dishonor the sacred blood of 
Christ, as common blood, are impious against Him that sent, Him that 
suffered, and Him that witnessed.' 

But here we must mention the opinion of several Eastern bishops, in 
order to show the agreement of the Constitutions with these. Diony- 
sius, bishop of Alexandria, disapproved entirely the conduct of Stephen, 



1 Epist. 70. Neminem foris baptizari, extra ecclesiam posse, cum sit baptisma 
unum in sancta ecclesia constitutum. Epist. 70-73. 

2 Cyprian's statement concerning Stephen, Epist. 74. Camera vel superba vol ad 
rem non pcvtinentia, vel sibi ipsi contraria, qua? imperite et improvide scripsit, &c. — 
Qua? ista abstinatio est, quceve praesumtio, humanam traditionem divina? disposition! 
anteponere, nee animadvertere, indignari et irasci Deum, quoties divina prs&cepta 
solvit, et praeterit humana traditio. Nam consuetudo sine veritate vetustas erroris 
est. — How strong- the mutual reproaches were, we see, among others, from Epist. 75. 

Non studet Stephanum Cyprianum pseudo- Christum et pseudo-apostolum et 

dolosum operarium diccre. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SIXTH BOOK. 409 

and acceded to the view of Cyprian. 1 The same did most of the East- 
ern bishops ; and among them was Firmilian, bishop of Cresarea, in 
Cappadocia, who agreed with Cyprian, and uttered bitter words concern- 
ing Stephen. 2 From the passages referred to, we perceive sufficiently 
how very much, at that time, all in Asia Minor were opposed to the 
Roman view ; and hence we can very well explain the vehement oppo- 
sition of our Constitutions. 

If it be objected, that, in this Constitution, there is no allusion to the 
individual relations of the contending persons, and that no name, even in 
the remotest manner, is indicated, this is, indeed, true ; but it can be suf- 
ficiently explained from the design of the author to write as if in the 
time of the apostles. He had, therefore, to guard against mentioning 
particularly any individual relations. On the contrary, so far as the 
contents of this Constitution are concerned, there is the most decided 
agreement with the views of those, who, while the controversy on bap- 
tism administered by heretics, was the most vehement, rejected that 
baptism entirely. Here we must call attention to another remarkable 
agreement. As Stephen withdrew church fellowship, and called the dis- 
senting churches Anabaptists (^Ava3a7iTi(jT(xi), so these guarded them- 
selves expressly against that name ; for they also rejected second bap- 
tisms, and wished not to baptize again the already baptized ; but they 
did not acknowledge the baptism of the heretics, at all, as valid and true. 
Indeed, this is altogether the doctrine of our Constitutions ; for while 
they represent the baptism of the heretics as a pollution, and utterly 
reject it, they, too, guard themselves against the reproach of Anabaptism. 
The caption of c. 15 is, 'That we ought neither to rebaptize, nor to 
receive that baptism which is given by the wicked, which is not baptism, 
but pollution.' Certainly, all this is not an insignificant proof that we 
have fixed on the right time for the origin of the Constitutions. 

Near the end cf e. 15, pedobaptisrn is commended : 'Moreover, bap- 



1 In a letter to the Roman Sixtus II, the successor of Stephen. It may be seen in 
Eusebius, Eccles. Hist. b. vii. e. 5. 

2 Eirmiliani Epist. ad Cyprianum (Ep. Cypr. 75. in a literal Latin translation) : 
Gratiam referre Stephano in isto \ ossumus, quod per illius in humanitatem nunc affec- 
tum est, ut fid* i et s tpicntise vestrre experimentum caperemus Sed haec interim, 

qxtae a Stephano gesta sunt, prcetereantur, ne dum audacias et insolentiae ejus memini- 

mus, de rebus ab eo improbe gestis longiorem mocstitiam nobis inferamus Lites et 

dissensiones quantas parasti per ecclesias totius mundi'? Peccatum vero, quam mag- 
num tibi exaggerasti, quanto te a tot gregibus s -idisti 1 Exscidisti enim temetipsum : 
noli te fallere. Si quidem ille est vere schismaticus, qui se a communione ecclesias- 
tical unitatis apostatam fecerit. Dum enim putas omnes a te abstinere posse, solum 
te ab omnibus abstinuisti, &c. 



410 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

tize your children, and bring them up in the nurture and admonition of 
God. For the Saviour saith, Suffer the little children to come unto 
me, and forbid them not. 1 And this is altogether in harmony with the 
view which, already, we have often indicated in respect to the time of 
the Constitutions. It is ascertained that pedobaptism does not belong to 
the apostolic age ; and it is difficult to point out its existence before the 
time of Tertullian, who zealously opposed it. In his time, this practice 
seems to have been first coming into existence ; for the passages in Ire- 
nseus, and in Clement of Alexandria, will hardly bear criticism, and can 
prove the contrary of that for which they have sometimes been adduced* 
But after the time of Tertullian, it was rapidly introduced, and about the 
middle and towards the end of the third century, it was received in the 
Alexandrian and North African church, and only there. It was con- 
stantly held to be apostolical on the ground of Matt. 19: 14; which 
passage also our Constitutions adduce. Cyprian, in his 59th Epistle- 
declares himself entirely in its favor. He had, as his starting-point, the 
deep Christian thought, that the life of those who were born among 
Christians, should, immediately from its first development, experience 
the beneficial influence of Christianity, and that the divine principle of 
Christianity should be brought nigh to the young soul. In the Alexan- 
drian church, also, the practice gradually became prevalent. Still, there 
were at that time those who, viewing baptism as an opus operatum, 
expected from it a mysterious and magical forgiveness of sins, and there- 
fore deferred it as long as possible. Against these, now, our Constitu- 
tions speak most decidedly, and warn them not to put off conversion to 
the hour of death. 2 

In all the remaining parts of the book, there is contained but little 
which could serve to cast a clearer light on the age of the Constitutions. 
So much the more there is, that is characteristic of the whole aim and 
plan of the author. 

There is extended through pone chapters still, the opposition against 
the heretics. Attention is called to their pernicious custom of secretly 
introducing writings under the name of apostolical men, in order to 
spread their heretical opinions ; and then again there is an earnest warn- 
ing to avoid all communion with heretics. In the end of c. 18, the 



1 BaTTTi^ere 61 vfiuv Kal tu vr/iua, kol EHTpecbere avra kv iraideia adi vovdeoia {reov. 
'A(j>ere yap, tyrjal, ru iraidia kpx^od-at npbg [j.s, kol fir/ KuAvere avra. 

2 But lie th t saith, When I am dying I will be baptized, lest I should sin and defile 
my baptism, is ignorant of God, and forgetful of his own nature. For, Do not thou 
delay to turn unto the Lord; for thou hnowest not what the next day icill bring forth. [Ec- 
cleti.isticus 5 : 8, and Prov. 27 : 1.] 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SIXTH BOOK. 411 

preservation of the pure doctrine is mentioned as the object of the 
Constitutions. On this passage we have already treated at considerable 
length (p. 340). In the following chapters, the opposition is directed 
against those who reject the law. The well-known declarations of our 
Lord in favor of the validity of the law, are enumerated; and in c. 19, 
among other proofs, it is urged that Moses and Elias, as stated in 
Luke 9 : 30, were present at the transfiguration of our Lord, as friends, 
not as enemies. It is obvious that the author was attached to the Judaiz- 
ing view, as he then especially likes to borrow his examples and proofs 
from the Old Testament, when he has occasion to establish some of his 
favorite ideas. As he sought to transfer the Levitical priesthood of the 
Old Testament to Christianity, so there were many other things in 
respect to which he believed the Constitution of the Old Testament not 
abrogated. But it would be wrong to think that he had entirely over- 
looked the perpetual, the almost absolute difference between the Old 
Testament and the New. He distinguishes between the natural and the 
superadded law 7 . 1 By the natural law, he understands the Decalogue, 
which was given before the idolatry of the people ; and which, according 
to its nature, judges rightly. But after the people' had fallen away 
from God, and presented offerings to an idol, God bound them with 
indissoluble bonds. Then the Constitutions show how God imposed on 
the people a multitude of altogether external statutes which they name 
particularly ; and they include these under the expression, law super- 
added (v6 t uo; ETcsioaxTog), which they declare to be abrogated through 
Christ ; while, on the contrary, they maintain that Christ has not abro- 
gated, but has confirmed, the natural law. Nevertheless, the author of 
the Constitutions is not willing to concede that the whole of the super- 
added law is abrogated, but only the more difficult parts of it. 2 It is 



1 The twentieth chapter answers the question, What is the natural law, and what 
the one introduced; and why it was introduced. 

2 Chap. 22 : ' Christ, by his coming, hath strengthened and completed the law. He 
hath taken away the additional precepts, although not all of them, yet at least the 
more grievous ones, having confirmed the law, and having caused these to cease.' . . • 
The chapter ends thus : ' And he that was the lawgiver became himself the fulfilling of 
the law ; not taking away the natural law, but abrogating those additional precepts that 
were afterwards introduced, although not all of them.' Chap. 23 (the caption) : 
' How Christ became a fulfiller of the law ; and what parts of it he caused to cease, or 
changed, or transferred.' The comparison is remarkable, which is made between the 
symbolical usages of the Old Testament and those of the New: ' Instead of the daily 
washing, Christ instituted only one baptism. Instead of one tribe for priests, the best 
out of every nation were to be ordained. Instead of the bloody offering, an unbloody, 
mystical offering was to be presented.' 



412 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

certainly true, that in our Constitutions no genuine free Christian view 
prevails, and that in particular they have a tendency to look too much 
to what is external ; but still, there breathes in them a Christian spirit ; 
and, in reference to the difference between the Old and the New Testa- 
ment economy, they say, quite correctly, that we who believe in Christ 
are under grace, not under the servitude of the law (the superadded 
law). But the author of the Constitutions seems not to have compre- 
hended and grasped the deep Christian doctrine that rejects every legal 
dependence. 

In some of the following chapters, the warnings against the heretics 
are repeated, amidst the mentioning of several heretical opinions ; and 
then, in c. 27, it is copiously shown that natural things, whatever they 
may be, cannot defile and pollute the man, but only impiety and unright- 
eous actions ; and in the succeeding chapters, there is warning given 
against several vices that dishonor mankind. 

Finally, in c. 30, mention is made of the fact that deceased Chris- 
tians were interred by their brethren amidst the singing of psalms. 
Probably the custom had its origin in the dirges of the ancients and in 
their songs for the dead, which were.sung, with the accompaniment of 
the pipe, and sometimes even of the trumpet. It is difficult to point out 
definitely the time when psalms were first sung at funerals among the 
Christians. 1 In the singing of psalms for the sleeping martyrs there is, 
in no way, implied a praying that they might be forgiven, but much 
more a praising of God at the remembrance of them ; for, in the ancient 
church, the day of the death of the martyrs was viewed as their birth- 
day, and was celebrated as their anniversary. 2 

This passage of our Constitutions, is, so far as I know, the easiest 
testimony which has come down to us, respecting this ecclesiastical usage. 
In later writers, the custom occurs frequently, and the Psalmodies ap- 
pear as an essential part of the church celebration. See Chrysostom, 
Homily iv. on the Epistle to the Hebrews; Gregory of Nazianzum, Ora- 
tion x. ; Socrates, Ecclesiastical History, b. vii. c. 46 ; and many others. 

It could be objected, that the existence of this custom would presup- 
pose that the Christian church already enjoyed a state of complete exter- 



1 ' Singing for the martyrs who are fallen asleep, and for all the saints from the 
beginning of the world, and for your brethren that are asleep in the Lord. And at 
the funerals of the departed, accompany them forth with singing, if they were faithful 
in the Lord.' 

2 Hence, in ecclesiastical phraseology, the day of one's death is always called his 
Urthday (dies natalis). The church celebrated only he birthday of Christ, of Mary, 
and oi John the Baptist. In regard to all the rest, she kept the day of their death. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SEVENTH BOOK. 413 

nal security, which is not to be thought of as possible about the middle 
and towards the end of the third century, when there still were persecu- 
tions. But if we consider that the Christian life as connected with the 
church, was, at that time, almost completely regulated, and many other 
rites in divine service were used, and if we recollect that Chrysostom, 
Gregory of Nazianzum, and others, speak of this custom in such a man- 
ner that it cannot have been first introduced in their time, every doubt 
will certainly disappear, which could perhaps be derived from this 
Constitution. 



Investigation on the Seventh Booh of the Constitutions. 

The seventh book 1 , — it being the last book of the Constitutions as they 
existed in the times of Eusebius, Athanasius, and Epiphanius, before the 
eighth book was added, towards the end of the fourth century, and prob- 
ably by the author of the last canon (see p. 334), — contains, as it were, 
a short recapitulation of all the precepts given in the former books, and 
then some liturgical directions and forms, which enable us to infer the 
state of the churches in respect to public religious services, at the close 
of the third century. This short recapitulation of most of the precepts 
which are given in the preceding books, confirms our assertion of the 
unity of the first seven books, and shows at once that this seventh 
book forms the conclusion. We might be inclined, just from this short 
repetition of several precepts, to argue against the unity of the work ; 
but this assumption is opposed by the fact that in the repetition, re- 
gard is sometimes had to the earlier regulations. Thus, for example, 
it is said in c. 22, ' Now concerning baptism, O Bishop, or Presbyter, we 
have already given direction, and we now say.' This proves clearly 
that there is no accidental repetition, made without any unity, and no 
mere putting together of unconnected pieces. 

The regulations of the seventh book, as far as to the 22nd chapter, are 
mostly of a general character, as they already occur in the earlier books ; 
and, at the most, the warning in c. 6, against having any thing to do 
with augury and with magical arts, might not be found in the foregoing 
books. In the 22nd chapter, some additional precepts are given respect- 
ing baptism ; and these manifestly refer to the earlier, in b. iii. c. 16. 
Already, in b. iii. c. 16, the express mention of the Father, the Son, and 



1 This book bears the general superscription, Ylepi nolireiag, ml mxapioTias, nai tt)c 
kutu Xpiarbv fivijaeug. 



414 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

the Holy Ghost, is required ; but here the whole formula of baptism 
(Matt. 28 : 19) is introduced after the words, ' Thou shalt so baptize as 
the Lord commanded us, saying.' Certainly, this passage, in b. vii. c. 
22, is one of the earliest testimonies concerning the application of this 
formula in baptism. We admit, there occur yet earlier traces of its 
application; for instance, in Justin Martyr, Apology i. c. 46, and in 
Tertullian on Baptism, c. 13 ; while the place in Matthew seems at that 
time to have been only had in view, and baptism to have been adminis- 
tered with reference to the trinity, without the passages being considered 
as a prescribed formula. When now modern writers * have asserted that, 
in this passage, no definite formula of baptism, at all, was in reality pre- 
scribed, and that the baptismal formula usual in the first centuries of 
the Christian church is nowhere to be found, this assertion is sufficiently 
refuted by what is here presented. 2 

The Constitutions further direct that the person about to be baptized 
fast before baptism ; for our Lord also fasted forty days and forty nights 
in order to give us an example. This direction contains, however, 
nothing new and unusual ; for respecting this custom we have several 
other testimonies of the ancients, which prove that already before the 
time of our Constitutions, this custom was pretty general. Justin Mar- 
tyr, 3 as well as Tertullian, 4 mention expressly, that to prepare for bap- 
tism there was a fast. Its duration is variously stated. Often it was 
three days ; sometimes one or two weeks ; and sometimes forty days. 
The 24th chapter gives us a not less interesting testimony concerning 
our Lord's prayer. 5 It is there commanded to offer it three times a day. 6 
It would lead us too far, were we to mention the various opinions re- 
specting the Lord's prayer, some of which do not regard it as a prayer, 
and much less recognize in it a general form. Its not being used in the 



1 Among others, Eisenlohr, Historishe Bemeknngen iiber die Taufe. Tubingen. 
1804. S. 67 — . 

2 In Bingham, torn. iv. p. 164, the testimonies on the high antiquity of the Baptis- 
mal formula are collected ; but our passage, b. vii. c. 22, is overlooked. 

3 Apolog. ii. p. 93. "Oaot av ttelg-Quol nal ttigtevcogl afajtiq ravra ra vfi r^/xibv dida- 
GK.6(j.£va nal /Xeyojieva elvat, nal (3iovv ovrug dvvao&cu vtvioxvuvtcu, evxeo&at, re nal airelv 
vtjgtevovtec; irapa rov -&eov tcov 7rporjf/.aprr]fj,£vcov uQeglv didacKOvrai, yfiuv ovvEvxofiivov 
nal gvvvtjgtevovtuv avToig. 

4 De Baptismo, c. 20. Ingressuros baptismum orationibus crebris, jejumis et geni- 
culationibus et pervigiliis orare oportet, &c. 

5 The caption of c. 24 is, What sort of people they ought to be who offer the prayer 
that was given by the Lord. 

6 Pray thus thrice in a day, preparing yourselves beforehand, that ye may be worthy 
of the adoption of the Father. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SEVENTH BOOK. 415 

apostolic age is difficult to be explained ; but the ground of this is prop- 
erly sought in the fact that the canon of the New Testament became 
generally known only by degrees, and at a later period. Already in 
Irenaeus we find a trace of the Lord's prayer being known to him. 1 In 
the time of Tertullian its use was so general, that, almost certainly, 
before his time it had been admitted as a general form of prayer in 
the church. Tertullian, it is well known, wrote a special work upon 
it (De Oratione Dominica), in which he represents it as the prayer for 
the Christians of all times (oratio legitima et ordinaria). If now we 
compare his representation with what occurs in our Constitutions, we shall 
find that he, as well as the Constitutions, wishes the Lord's prayer to be 
offered three times a day. Cotelerius 2 thinks that this was directed in 
honor of the holy trinity, and in proof he cites Theodoret (Epist. 145), 
and others. But the confirmation of his conjecture lies still nearer, in the 
testimony of Tertullian, who says expressly, that we, as debtors of the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, ought to pray three times a day. 3 
But still we must call attention to a difference between Tertullian and our 
Constitutions. Tertullian is unacquainted with the doxology. Lie con- 
cludes the prayer with the words, But deliver us from evil (Sed evehe 
nos a malo). On the contrary, in our Constitutions, the doxology occurs. 
In our passage, indeed, b. vii. c. 22, the full form does not appear ; and 
it says merely, ' For thine is the kingdom, for ever, amen.' But it 
occurs in the eighteenth chapter of the third book. Hence it appears 
that, to the author of the Constitutions, the doxology was not current ; un- 
less we should be so bold as to infer that it originated with him ; and, 
because it proceeded from him, he brought it forward sometimes in one 
form and sometimes in a form somewhat different. 

Origen 4 and Cyprian 5 have written not less copiously on the Lord's 
prayer ; and by this it is fully certain that at the time of the origin of 
our Constitutions, towards the end of the third century (as we must 
assume this for their age), the use of the prayer was very general. 
We remark, further, that, from the custom of saying this prayer three 
times a day, it has probably acquired the designation daily prayer 



1 Adv. Hseres. lib. v. c. 17. Quapropter et in oratione dicere nos docuit: et remitte 
nobis debita nostra ; utique quoniam hie est Pater noster, cujus eramus debitores, trans- 
gressi ejus praeceptum. 

2 Note 8, ad lib. vii. c. 24. 

3 De Orat. Dom. c. 19. Etsi simpliciter se habeant sine illius observationis prse- 
cepto. bonum tam en sit aliquam constiuere praesumtionem, — ne minus ter die saltern 
adoremus, debitores Patris, Filii, et Spiritus Sancti. 

4 In the second part of his work, irepl ev^c. 

5 De Orat. Dom. p. 217-230, ed. Par. 



416 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

(oratio quotidiana), which occurs in later writers; as, for example, in 
Augustin (Enchirid. c. 71). 

In c. 25 there is a liturgical formula on the celebration of the Lord's 
Supper, entitled a mystical thankgiving (eu/aQiarla fjvaTiar^} In re- 
spect to all these forms we must not forget that they are ideal forms, 
which never passed over into practical life. Hence we seek in vain in 
other writers for liturgical forms like those of the seventh book. The 
Lord's Supper is here represented as a mystery, from which every one 
who has not been initiated (aiu'^Toc) is excluded. The chapter closes by 
saying, ' If any one that is not initiated conceal himself, and partake, he 
eateth eternal condemnation ; because, being not of the faith of Christ, 
he hath partaken of such things as it is not lawful for him to partake of, 
to his own punishment. But if any one be a partaker through ignorance, 
instruct him quickly, and initiate him, that he may not go out a despiser.' 
The more carefully the mysteries were concealed from the catechumens, 
the more perilous it was, if a person not initiated came to a knowledge 
of them. Then there was applied a kind of forced baptism ; which, 
although mildly expressed, is recognized in this passage of the Constitu- 
tions. In later times the same practice was retained; as we perceive 
from the regulations made by the council at Toledo, which would per- 
mit a constraint only in this case. 2 Besides, Cotelerius has remarked, 3 
that in the Greek casuistry, the question, What is to be done when a 
catechumen has been present through accident, and partaken of the 
Lord's Supper, it is answered that he must be immediately baptized, 
since he is, as it were, called of God. Here, in regard to the end of the 
prayer, it is worthy of being specially noted that with a part of the dox- 
ology the amen is connected as a closing word. In the Church Fathers 
this formula occurs, especially in the Eucharist, and a special value was 
ascribed to it, about the middle of the third century. Justin Martyr, in 
his first Apology, § 65 and 67, is the first in whose works we find it 
thus used ; and then, in later writers, it becomes a standing formula, 
which was constantly held fast in opposition to the heretics who 



1 In b. ii. c. 28, the Agape, love-feast, is briefly mentioned (ayamjv, ?]tol 6oxvv, c5f 6 
nvpiog uvdfiaae) ; and in b. iii. c. 10, the sacrifice (tfixrm), and the blessing, small and 
great {rj evXoyia fimpa nal fj.eya?iij), are forbidden to the laity. 

2 Concil. Tolet. iv. can. 57. De Judseis hoc praecipit sancta synydus, nemini deinccps 
ad credendum vim infere. Qui autem jam pridem ad Christianitatem venire exacti 
sunt, — oportet, ut fidcm ctiam quum vi vel necessitate susceperunt, tenere cogantur, 
ne nomcn divinum blasphemctur, et fides, quam susceperunt, vilis ac contemtibilis 
habeatur. 

3 From Timoth. Alex. Respons. Canon, c. 1. Apud Balsamonem, p. 1059. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SEVENTH BOOK. 417 

wished to remove it ; as, for example, the Novatians, according to 
Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, b. vi. c. 43. 

Upon this there follows, in c. 26, another formula, to be used after the 
communion (Iv/agioi'ia Inl Tr ( d-sla fisTaX^ytet^, which is the more im- 
portant, the more certainly it is ascertained that these are the most 
ancient forms on this subject that have come down to us. Of this the 
noble simplicity and dignity which prevail in them, give the best proof. 
Towards the end of this form it is said, * Deliver it (the church) from 
all evil, and perfect it in thy love and thy truth, and gather us all to- 
gether into thy kingdom which thou hast prepared. Maranatha : Our 
Lord is come. Hosanna te the son of David. Blessed be he that 
cometh in the name of the Lord.' This is certainly one of the most 
ancient traces of the formula Hosanna to the son of David. That is 
still more ancient which Eusebius (Eccles. Hist. b. ii. c. 23) has pre- 
served from Hegesippus. [Compare Matt. 21 : 9, where the same 
words are used which occur in the passage before us.] 

At the first glance, it might seem as if the 29th chapter did not suit 
the connection, since it contains some directions concerning oblations. 
Yet this is by no means the case. It is ascertained that in the ancient 
church, the Lord's Supper was supported by the oblations of the be- 
lievers, and that therefore the communicants had, each time, to bring, 
or, as it were, to offer oblations. These gifts, which consisted chiefly of 
bread and wine, but often, too, of other things, were called oblations of 
the believers (oblationes fidelium), and were received only from commu- 
nicants, that is, from complete members of the church. That portion of 
the oblations which was not necessary for the Lord's Supper, was con- 
sidered as belonging to the servants of the church, and to the poor. If 
we recollect this, we shall not be surprised at what is said, in this con- 
nection, respecting oblations. The transition is easy to the statement 
that the first fruits must be brought to the clergy. 

The 39th chapter now mentions the laying on of hands (manuum im- 
positio) in the reception of catechumens j 1 and here the question arises, 
whether this imposition of hands was performed before or after baptism, 
or whether there is here any trace of confirmation. Some have assumed 
the latter on account of the rite of the laying on of hands, but manifestly 
without good reason ; although there can be no doubt that the rite of 
the laying on of hands was applied, from the first origin of confir- 
mation. It is also fully ascertained that, in the earliest times of the 



1 Tavra nat tu Tovrotg unolov&a jiavdaveTu bv rrj Karr\xr}OZt^ 6 Trpocntjv • KpoanvvuTU 
dh 6 x £i P ^ E ~^ v (ivroVy rbv dew rbv ruv o?mv 6cgtvotijv. 

27 



418 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

church, baptism and confirmation were closely connected, the one follow- 
ing the other without delay. Nevertheless, the discourse here is not of 
confirmation, but only of the laying on of hands, which was considered 
as an integral part of baptism. Frequently it has been altogether de- 
nied that a laying on of hands was connected with baptism, and this 
passage has been classed with such as speak of confirmation. But we 
must carefully distinguish two rites of laying on of hands ; one which 
preceded baptism, and one which followed it. This distinction has 
already been brought into use, but it has found many opposers. 1 Hence 
our passage in the Constitutions is the more important, since it decides 
most clearly the point of contest. For in the whole 39th chapter 
all is exactly described which should precede the reception and the 
baptism of catechumens. It is said in plain words, ' He therefore who 
is to be catechized in the word of piety, let him be instructed before his 
baptism.' Since now this laying on of hands is mentioned in connection 
with this instruction, which must precede baptism, it is manifest that this 
laying on of hands also precedes baptism. It becomes still more cer- 
tain by the fact that the following chapter begins thus : ' And when the 
catechumen is just at the point of being baptized,' &c, which words still 
presuppose that the person to be baptized, on whom the laying on of 
hands is already performed, is not yet baptized. 

That the renouncing of the devil, 2 which is enjoined in c. 41 and 42, 
belongs to no later age than the one fixed on by us for the Constitu- 
tions, hardly needs to be mentioned ; for already, before that time, it is 
often brought forward by writers. Even Tertullian, early as he lived, 
mentions that the renunciation of the adversary was performed twice. 3 
Besides, the confession of faith (symbolum fidei), given in this chapter, 
is one of the most ancient which we possess from the times before the 
Nicene Council ; and it well merits a place with the confessions of 
Gregory Thaumaturgus, and of Lucian Martyr, and with the fragments 
of confessions in Tertullian, Cyprian, and others. 

Upon this renunciation of the devil, followed the adhesion to Christ 
(awidcroEcrOoct, Xqlotqj), or the vow of obedience to Christ, which also 
our Constitutions mention at large. This custom, moreover, is very an- 
cient, and is found in the writers of the second century. Among the 



1 Augusti. Bd. 4, S. 407, thinks that this distinction, at least in the time of Tertul- 
lian, was not yet made ; but he concedes that it arose afterwards. 

2 ' I renounce Satan and his works, and his pomps, and his worship, and his angels, 
and his inventions, and all things that are under him.' 

3 Tertull. De Corona Milit. Aquam adituri, ibidem, sed et aliquantoprius in ecclesia' 
sub antistitis manu contestamur nos renuntiare diabolo et pom pa; ct angelis ejus. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SEVENTH BOOK. 419 

Latins, this adhesion to Christ is called promise, vow, covenant (pro- 
missum, votum, sponsio), and among them it followed immediately after 
the renunciation. There was connected with it the idea that he who 
has renounced the devil, and with him all that is worldly, must imme- 
diately promise to be an obedient soldier of Christ. 

In an earlier part of this essay (p. 377), we have already called 
attention to the variety in the right of anointing, namely, that there 
were two anointings, one which preceded baptism, and one which fol- 
lowed it; that the former was the anointing with the mystic oil (Xgiaig 
tov {tvanxov ilalov) ; the second, the anointing with ointment (Xglaig 
tov fivQov). This is clearly shown by c. 42 and 44, where the former 
treats on the anointing with oil, 1 and the latter on the anointing with 
ointment. 2 The first anointing is represented as a preparation for 
baptism, that he who is anointed may also be worthy of this consecra- 
tion. The idea of the second anointing is given by c. 44, in the words, 
' Lord, do thou grant at this time that this ointment may be effica- 
cious upon him that is baptized, so that the sweet odor of thy Christ 
may continue upon him firm and fixed, and that, having died with him, 
he may rise with him, and live with him.' This second anointing, with 
which again the laying on of hands was connected, 3 occupied in the 
Oriental church the place of confirmation ; which confirmation, in the 
more modern sense, was first introduced into the Western church at a 
later period. 4 

After the first anointing, there follows the consecration of the water 
with which the candidate is to be baptized. In our Constitutions, c. 43, 
this rite is copiously described ; 5 and the formula for the consecration 
is given. After the divine economy is praised, according to which the 
Son came into the world, and redeemed sinful men, it is said, ' Look 



1 C. 42 (the Caption) : A thanksgiving concerning the anointing with the mystical 
oil. The chapter begins thus : ' Now this is blessed by the high priest for the remis- 
sion of sins, and the preparation for baptism .... that he would sanctify the oil in 
the name of the Lord Jesus, and bestow spiritual grace, and efficacious strength, the 
remission of sins, and the preparation for the confession of baptism.' 

2 C. 44 (the Caption) : A thanksgiving concerning the mystical ointment. 

3 C. 44 (mid.) : For this is the efficacy of the laying on of hands on each. 

4 Under the guidance of Catholic writers, it is commonly assumed that confirmation 
was introduced by the Roman Bishop Silvester, in the fourth century. Still, this is 
not historically ascertained ; and much might be said in favor of an earlier introduc- 
tion. Brenner, in his Historical Representation of the Performance and Administra- 
tion of the Sacraments from Christ to our Times, vol. i. p. 97, is of the opinion that 
confirmation was introduced as a substitute for the anointing by a bishop, when this 
was not imparted. 

5 C. 43 (the Caption) : A thanksgiving concerning the mystical water. 



420 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

down from heaven, and sanctify this water, and bestow grace and power, 
that so the person baptized, according to the command of thy Christ, 
may be crucified with him, and may die with him, and may be buried 
with him, and may rise with him to the adoption which is in him, by 
being made dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto righteousness.' This 
consecration of the water, however, had not its origin, by any means, in 
a later time ; but Tertullian, early as he lived, was acquainted with the 
rite ; x and Cyprian, more expressly and altogether in the sense of our 
Constitutions, says that the water must be first purified and sanctified by 
the priest, that it may wash away the sins of the person who is baptized. 2 
Finally, in c. 44, it is commanded that he, after his baptism, standing up, 
offer the Lord's prayer; 3 a custom which is found in all antiquity. 
Besides, the 45th chapter gives us the form of a prayer which the per- 
sons baptized could offer after the Lord's prayer. 4 From c. 39 to 45, 
the Constitutions treat concerning the reception, the instruction, and the 
baptism of catechumens ; so that the regulations on these subjects con- 
clude with the 45th chapter : ' These Constitutions we have thought it 
right to make concerning the catechumens.' It might seem remarkable 
that, in all these regulations, the baptism only of persons grown up can 
be intended, which was performed with this solemn ritual, in which the 
person himself who is baptized takes a part ; while we, in another pas- 
sage (p. 409), have seen, that our Constitutions admit the baptism also of 
children. This circumstance, instead of tending to overthrow the asser- 
tions which we have made, confirms them. For exactly at the time of 
the origin of our Constitutions it was, when infant baptism and the bap- 
tism of persons grown up existed together. Till the fifth century this 
continues, and the baptism of the grown-up is the more prevalent ; but 
then pedobaptism predominates, and completely displaces the baptism 
of adults. It is well known how very zealously Tertullian (De 
Baptismo, c. 18,) opposed infant baptism ; and although the council at 
Carthage, A.D. 253, with Cyprian at their head, declared themselves in 
its favor, yet only in the African church from that time it came gradu- 
ally to prevail. In the Oriental church, on the contrary, the earlier 
usage remained till the fifth century. 



1 Tertull. De Baptismo, c. 4. Sacramentum sanctificationis consequuntur invocato 
Deo. Supcrvenit enim statim spiritus de caalis et aquis superest, sanctineans cas do 
semet ipso ; et ita sanctificata3 vim sanetificandi combibunt. 

2 Oportct, mimdari et sanctificari aquain prius a saccrdotc, lit possit baptismo suo 
peccata liominis, qui baptizatur, abluere. 

3 C. 44 : After this let him stand up, and pray that prayer which the Lord taught 
us ; for, of necessity, he who is risen again ought to stand up and pray ; because he 
that is raised up standeth upright. 

4 C. 45 (the Caption) : A prayer of the newly initiated. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SEVENTH BOOK. 421 

We come now to c. 47, where, under the name of the morning prayer 
(jtgoasvxri kwdivfy, the hymn is found, which, in the Greek church, is 
denominated the great doxology, — the same which, in a Latin transla- 
tion prepared by Hilary, is still sung in the Catholic church as an 
angelic hymn (hymnus angelicus), in the celebration of the mass. 1 Even 
in Lutheran Germany, for a long time, the Latin collects and hymns 
were preserved ; but, since this practice was done away, still, down 
to the very latest time, in many countries, on the three great festivals, 
the Latin Gloria in excelsis Deo (Glory to God in the highest), has been 
used; to which the congregation replied, et in terra pax (and on earth 
peace). 2 The ground of preserving this hymn is certainly to be sought 



1 This hymn is printed in the sixth volume of the London Polyglott Bible, from the 
Codex Alex. Usher also has published it, in his Diatriba de Symbolis, p. 35 ; and 
Thomas Smith, in his account of the Greek Church, p. 302. 

2 From the same hymn also has arisen the German song, 

Allein Gott in der Hohe sei Ehre ; 

[of which the following English version has been kindly furnished, for insertion here, 
by the Rev. S. F. Smith ; whose various contributions to awaken and elevate the best 
affections of the soul, need no commendation. 

Praise, praise to thee, O God most High ! 

How large thy grace, how deep thy love ! 
Safe in thy favor, lo, we stand ; 

Our steadfast souls no ill can move ; 
Through Christ from condemnation free, 
Great peace our spirits find in thee. 

Thanks for thy glorious being, thou, 

The Father, evermore adored ; 
Sovereign of worlds, our rock, our tower, 

Supreme and universal Lord ; 
Eternal is Jehovah's throne ; 
Whate'er his will appoints is done. 

Thy name be hallowed, God the Son, 

Son of the heavenly Father, thou, 
Redeemer, Saviour of the lost, 

Our peace, our Intercessor, now ; 
Blest Lamb of God, thy face reveal, 
Our wants relieve, our pardon seal. 

Spirit divine, our life, our strength, 

The noblest gift of him who died, 
Keep us from ill for his dear sake, 

Who, seated at his Father's side, 
Rejoices in the pangs he bore, 
That sin and death might reign no more.] 



422 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

in the great reverence which was cherished for its high antiquity. For 
all have agreed that it is the most ancient hymn which has descended to 
us from the ancient church. 1 It is asked, now, whether this hymn does 
not testify against the age stated by us for the Constitutions, and whether 
we can point out any testimony that it was already extant at the end of the 
third century. 2 This, to be sure, is difficult, yet there is a testimony extant, 

1 A. J. Rarabach, in his Anthology of Christian Songs from all Centuries of the 
Church (Bd. i. S. 40 — ), has with good reason received this hymn into his collection, 
as a song preserved to us from the third century. It is there printed in full, together 
with a translation. Still, on account of its importance, we present it here, in the 
recension of our Constitutions, which differs in several places from that which Ram- 
bach followed. It seems, moreover, that our Constitutions would have it regarded as 
a prayer, rather than as a hymn. We give it from Cotelerius, who, however, did not 
divide it into stanzas. 

Ao£a ev vipiorotg iSetj 
Kal £tu yfjg elpqvTj, 
'Ev avd-punoig evdonia. 
'Atvovfxiv ge, 
'Y/ivovfiev oe : 
'Evloyovfiiv ge, 
Ao^oTioyovftev ge, 
lipoGKVvovfxev ae, 
Ata rov [isyalov apxiEpsog 
2e rbv bvra debv 
'AysvvrjTov i.va, 
'Airpoatrov fiovov 
Aia ttjv fieyakriv gov db^av, 
Kvpis fiaaikev Eirovpavce, 
Qee narep iravroKparop, 
Kvpie 6 dsbg, 

'O TZdTTJp TOV XpiGTOV, 

Tov a/j,G)[iov afivov, 

"Og aipEL tt)v (tfiapTLav rov kog/xov. 

TlpOGdEtjCU TTJV 6E7]GtV tj/xcov • 

'O nadrifiEvog ettI ruv xepovfii/j, • 

"On gv fxbvog ay tog * — 

2t) fiovog nvpiog, 

'Ii]Gov,\g\ Xpiorbg roii -dsov 

JlaGrjg yevTjTTJg <pvoEug, 

Tov (3aGt?i£0)g y/itiv • — 

At' ov gol db^a, 

Tt/xr/ Kal GE[3ag. 

2 Wernsdorf Liturgia Lutherana servans excmplum antique ct purioris ecclcsia; 
Exercit. i. Viteb. 1780. 4. p. 9, 10. ' Doxologia major, Gloria in excelsis Deo, qui est 
Hymnus angelicus, Groccorumquc matutinus, quern Hymnum Constit. Apost. lib. vii. 
c. 47, jubent diebus dominicis ct festis //eAo&zcwf cantari, quern omnium hymnorum, 
qui cani soleant in ccetibus Christianorum publicis antiquissimum esse Thomas 



INVESTIGATION ON THE SEVENTH BOOK. 423 

which must make it in the highest degree probable, that, at the end of the 
third century, this hymn had already come into use. Athanasius, in his 
book on Virginity (De Virginitate), recommends to the virgins to use this 
hymn in their morning prayer. It is to be regretted that he does not 
quote it entirely ; then it would have been possible for us to compare it 
with the hymn of our Constitutions ; but still, he so designates it that no 
other can well have been meant. He also adduces the first three lines, 
and three others near the beginning, which agree entirely with those of 
the hymn in our Constitutions, so that we can safely assume that they are 
identical. 1 But if this be so, it may reasonably be inferred, notwith- 
standing the lateness of the testimony of Athanasius, that the hymn was 
in existence at the end of the third century. For the testimony of this 
Father [who was born about A.D. 296, and died A.D. 373], and the 
end of the third century, are not so very far from each other ; and, in 
the second place, we can safely conclude that a hymn which he presup- 
posed to be so well known that he mentioned it only by the first lines, 
did not have its origin in his time. 

But whether the author of the Constitutions was the author of this 
hymn is a difficult question, which can hardly be either affirmed or 
denied. Strictly speaking, there is no historical ground for denying 
that it was written by the author of the Constitutions ; but it is certainly 
possible that he received into his Constitutions the already extant hymn, 
as he wished to give a form of such a prayer. On this point, external 
testimonies entirely fail. It often occurs in Chrysostom, and the later 
writers, but without any mention of the author, or the time of its origin. 
Certainly belonging to the same time, and most probably proceeding 
from the same author, is the hymn given in c. 48 2 (vuvog koneQivbg, 
oratio vespertina), which has much that resembles the preceding. 
Usher, and after him others, have confounded it with the evening ad- 



Smithius (Miscellan. p. 136. Lond. 1686) affirmat, sub initium sacrorum publico- 
ram obtinuit, si non prius, at jam. sseculo quarto. Eum hymnum post emendata per 
J). Lutherum sacra quum Jo. Spangenbergius transtulerit in linguam vernaculam : 
quidni ab eo cantu ordinatur cultum divinurn ecclesia Lutherana, quse ad exeraplum 
illius antiquae ac puree composita est ' ! Certainly tbere was a very right feeling at the 
basis of the reverence for the antiquity of this hymn. 

1 Athanasius de Virginitate, torn. i. p. 1057. Tipbc bp$pov de rov ^alfibv tovtov 
?L.eyere- 6 debg, 6 ■&ebg fiov^pbg ae 6p-&pi&- ediipijoe ae rj ipvxv /*ov dtcKJxivfia de • 
evloyelre ixavra to. epya Kvpiov rbv Kvpiov do^a ev vtpiaroig i9e<p, Kal em yr/g elprjvrj, ev 
uv&pd)7roig evdoKia ' v/ivov/iev ae, ev?Myovfj.ev oe, 7ipoaKVVov/j.ev oe, Kal to, e^rjg. 

2 Perhaps this hymn also, as a specimen from the third century, might claim to be 
admitted into anthological collections. Hence we present it here according to the 



424 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

dress which is presented in b. viii. c. 36. The only testimony which 
we have respecting it is given by Basil (De Spiritu Sancto, c. 21 *) 
Avhere, however, no author is mentioned. In any case, there is neither 
external nor internal evidence requiring us to deny that the author of 
the Constitutions is also the author of the hymn, and there is nothing 
contained in it against the time assigned by us for the origin of the 
Constitutions. 2 

Having now gone through the first seven books of the Constitutions, 
step by step, and pointed out everywhere in detail, as we believe, the 
view proposed by us respecting the unity and the age of these first seven 
books, it now only remains for us, in the following chapters, to point out 
also, in detail, the interpolations which we assume in the same books ; 
and then proceed to the investigation on the eighth book. 



recension of Cotelerius, but divided into stanzas ; omitting, however, the passages of 
Scripture which constitute the beginning and the end. 

Alvovfiev as, 

'Tfivovfiev <7£, 

~Evhoyov(j,ev ere, 

Aid ttjv \ieyakr\v gov do^av ' 

Kvpis j3aot,?iEv, 

'O irarrjp tov Xpiarov, 

Tov dfccofiov dfivov, 

'Og alpet ttjv a/iapriav tov nocfiov * 

lot TrpeTtei alvog' 

2oi Trpenec vfivog' 

lot db^a irpETTSi. 

T<p Qeu nal irarpi, 

Aid tov violin 

'~Ev TTVEVfian t£) navayiu, 

E^c Tovg aldvag rtiv aluvuv ■ d/j.7)v. 

1 "EcJo£e Tolg Txarpuaiv r/fiuv pi Giuixy ttjv x®P av T °v £OTTEpivov QoTog dEXEcdai, uaX 
fbdvg (baivivTog evxo-PigteIv nal bg Tig fxlv 6 ira.Tr/p tuv p'rj^d.TCdV ekeivuv Ttjg kmXvxviov 
ivxapiGTiag, e'itteiv ovk exo/j-ev • 6 fiEV toi 2,abg upxalav iMpiijoi ttjv (povrjv nal ov6evi 
tzutcote aGEJ3uv Evo/xiod-rjoav ol TiiyovTsg • alvovfiEV naripa, nal vibv Kai dyiov nvevfia 

&EOV. 

2 The same may be said of the prayer at dinner (evxv ^ upiaro)), which constitutes 
the forty-ninth chapter of the seventh book. 



INTERPOLATIONS. 425 



CHAPTER V. 

ON THE INTERPOLATIONS WHICH THE FIRST SEVEN BOOKS OF THE 
CONSTITUTIONS HAVE SUFFERED. 

Although we have admitted the unity of the first seven books, and 
have established for their origin a common age, yet it does not hence 
follow that we depart from the general opinion of the ecclesiastical his- 
torians, who hold them to be corrupted and interpolated. It is only on 
the manner of this interpolation that there is any diversity of views. 
To deny entirely a corruption of the Constitutions would withhold from 
the most important historical testimonies, which expressly assert it, all 
credit and authority. On the other hand, there is room for the in- 
quiry, whether this corruption is an essential one, which has reached 
all parts of the Constitutions in their whole compass ; has changed them, — 
has taken away old parts, and inserted new ; or whether this corrup- 
tion is an unessential one, and consists only in a change of words, 
and modes of expression, here and there, and sometimes merely in an 
addition of one or more propositions. Most of those who have pro- 
nounced a judgment on the Constitutions have acceded to the first view, 
without having proved its correctness. Especially they seem readily to 
assent to this opinion, who assume that the Constitutions were made up 
of many and various isolated parts. At least, it makes their task, in 
respect to bringing proof for their assumption, very easy ; since they 
can, pretty arbitrarily, separate the Constitutions into parts which ac- 
cording to them must be original parts, or into parts which were added 
as a consequence of later corruption. In determining the age of the 
Constitutions, they find their task the more -easy also, since whatever 
in this code does not suit their determination of the time, they can ? 
without any further trouble, refer it to the department of the inter- 
polations. 

As we maintain the unity of these first seven books, it may readily be 
inferred that we admit only a corruption in the change of expressions 
and phrases, and in a few places an interpolation and insertion of 
a strange chapter. The interpolator seems to have been led chiefly by 
a dogmatic or doctrinal interest. This is obvious in every corruption 
that is attempted with single expressions and applications of terms. 
We see clearly in these additions or changes, that their author was 
attached to the Arian heresy, and that he probably had the design to 
give currency by them to his Arian opinions ; or, at all events, to be 



426 ESSAY OX THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

able, with the help of these interpolations, to argue from the Constitutions 
in favor of his heretical views. With this agree also the historical 
testimonies. According to the second Trullan canon, the Quinisextine 
Council rejected the Constitutions, because there were mingled with them, 
by heretics (tau twc erFoodu^otv^ for the destruction of the church, 
certain things spurious and alien from the church, making obscure to us 
the becoming beauty of the divine doctrines. 1 This points expressly to 
a doctrinal interpolation. But Photius determines its nature still more 
definitely. 2 Among the reasons for the rejection of the Constitutions, he 
mentions by name their Arianism (y-al an '^geiuvio/uhj'), 3 from which 
they could be freed only by violence. 

We proceed now to a full exhibition of these corruptions ; and, after 
they are examined, we shall endeavor to give also the probable time 
when they were introduced. 

The comparison which we find in b. ii. c. 26, is very remarkable. 4 
We shall show, further on, that this whole chapter, in which the Bishop 
is set up as an earthly god, is calculated to promote the hierarchy ; and 
this comparison also may have the same object. At the same time, its 
Arianism can hardly fail of being perceived. The Bishop is compared 
with God ; the deacon, with Christ. But as the Constitutions, in many 
places, and also here, make the deacon completely subordinate to the 
Bishop, and in respect and power set the Bishop far above him, so 
Christ too, in this comparison, appears entirely subordinate and occupy- 
ing only the second place. Manifestly this conflicts with the catholic 
system, and can with difficulty be referred to an orthodox author. It 
is in the highest degree probable that it was inserted by an Arian or a 
Macedonian. This becomes pretty certain by the comparison of the 
Holy Spirit and the deaconess. 5 As the deaconess, according to the 



1 'Ynb tuv irepodo^uv ettl ?\.oi[ir) rr/g enaTiT] ocag voda tlvu nal %eva rrjg EKK?.7]clag rrape- 
veredrioav, to evirpEireg KuTJiog tuv -&eIuv 6oj/u.utuv tj/luv uuavptoaavTa (Comp. p. 311). 

2 Phot. Bihlioth. Cod. 112, 113. 

3 Besides this reproach, Photius mentions also that the reproach of forgery was cast 
upon the Constitutions, which however he calls an ohjcction not difficult to remove 
(ov ^ale7rov uTroGKEvaoaoSaL) ; secondly, that invectives against the second law were 
laid to their charge (tov devTepovo/uov vj3pcg) ; hut he pronounces it easy also to recon- 
cile these matters (a nal fiacTOv 6ia%vaaadat). See, on the last suhject, Augusti's 
DenkwQrdigkeiten, Bd. iv. S. 215. 

4 But let the Deacon minister to him as Christ doth to his Father, and let him serve 
him unblamably in all things, as Christ doeth nothing- of himself, hut doeth always 
those things that y\ ase his Father. 

5 Let also the Deaconess he honored by you in the place of the Holy Spirit, and not 
do or say any flying w ithout the Deacon ; as neither doth the Comforter say or do 



INTERPOLATIONS. 427 

doctrine of the Constitutions, occupies a very subordinate place, and is 
completely subjected to the deacon, so (since by the comparison this 
relation is transferred to the Holy Spirit), so must the Holy Spirit here 
necessarily appear subordinated both to God and to Christ. Hence we 
must feel ourselves inclined to regard this addition as proceeding either 
from a Semi-arian or a Macedonian. 1 In like manner, the forty-fourth 
chapter in b. ii. seems to be not free from the Arian heresy. 2 Here 
again the same comparison is used. The deacon, as it is there said, 
may himself manage whatever he can, after power for the purpose is 
conferred on him by the Bishop, as Christ has received from the Father 
the power of creating and upholding. Unquestionably this departs 
from the catholic system, which admitted one and the same substance 
and essence of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ; and, 
consequently, must ascribe the power of creating and upholding to all as 
to each. On the contrary, this assertion of the Constitutions accords 
entirely with the opinion of Arius. 3 

In the same position, too, we must put a passage in b. iii. c. 17, 
where there seems to be a crowding upon the same catholic dogma. 4 
The addition, ' and taught by him,' could of itself betray the Macedon- 
ian heresy. Some have, indeed, adduced John 16: 13 — , in order to 
prove that this representation of the Holy Spirit is truly apostolical. 
Still it has been done without sufficient reason. While Christ here 
says, the Holy Spirit ' shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he 
shall hear, that shall he speak,' and v. 14, ' for he shall receive of mine, 
and shall show it unto you,' the great teachers of the church also, as 
Chrysostom, Augustin, and others, thus maintained, as catholic doctrine, 



any thing of himself, but giveth glory to Christ by waiting for his pleasure. And, as 
we cannot believe on Christ without the teaching of the Spirit, so let not any woman 
address herself to the Deacon or Bishop without the Deaconess. 

1 Both parties opposed the generally received doctrine concerning the Holy Spirit : 
and hence, for a long time, the names were equivalent. Thus they were used even by 
Socrates and Sozomen ; hut still, we must maintain the chronological difference. In 
the later Church Fathers, the name Macedonians came gradually to be the standing- 
one to designate the heresy respecting the Holy Spirit. Thus Augustin, De Ha3i\ 52, 
and Joh. Cassian. De Incarnat. 1,2 — . 

2 And let the Deacon refer all things to the Bishop, as Christ doth to his Father. 
But let him order such things as he is able by himself, receiving power from the Bishop, 
as the Lord did from his Father the power of creation and providence. But the 
weighty matters let the Bishop judge. 

3 See Arii Epist. ad Alexandrum, in Athanasius De Synodis Arim. et Seleuc. 
p. 729, and Epiphanius, Hoer. lxix. 7. 

4 The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, who is sent by Christ, and taught by him, and 
proclaims him. 



428 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

that the Holy Spirit hears what he speaks ; but at the same time they 
maintained not less strenuously the doctrine, that the knowledge also, as 
well as the substance, of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is one and 
the same ; that the Holy Spirit hears exactly in consequence of this 
unity of substance, — that this hearing is in him at once a knowing, 
but this knowing pertains to his very essence. An entirely different 
view of the subject is presented in our Constitutions. In them, Christ 
and the Holy Spirit are here conceived of as two different persons, and 
the Holy Spirit is represented as subordinated to Christ, who teaches 
him. But that the Scripture nowhere teaches this doctrine concerning 
the Holy Spirit, and that this was not the catholic system, is ascertained 
beyond a doubt ; and we must ascribe the view to the heresy of the 
interpolator. In the same chapter, the dogma, certainly unheard of in 
the catholic church, is indicated, that baptism is not to be administered 
jointly in the name of the Holy Spirit, but that the Holy Spirit is 
associated only, as it were, as a witness. 1 The passage in b. vi. c. 26, 
is very characteristic ; and is adapted to convince any one of the inser- 
tion of Arian views and opinions. 2 The whole chapter consists of 
admonitions to beware of the heretics, who aim at the destruction of 
souls. Now some heretical opinions are enumerated; and then it is 
added, ' but others of them suppose that Jesus himself is the God over 
all.' Certainly, however, none but an Arian could hold this view to 
be heretical ; since it was always an orthodox doctrine, that Christ is 
1 God over all ' (o lov hni nd^TOJV deb;) ; and also the Scripture (Rom. 9 : 
5) designates him as over all, God blessed for ever. 

In b. vi. c. 11, are found traces of Arianism or Semiarianism. 3 
Christ is here called the first-born of the whole creation. Le Gere has 
already remarked, that this manifestly betrays Arianism, which is 
brought forward only with caution. Since, besides this, there is noth- 
ing heretical contained in the whole chapter, we may reasonably as- 
sume that only the words, ' and of the first-born of the whole creation ' 
(■/.ul ttqlototoxov Truer?]; drjpLiovqylag^ are inserted; to which the occasion 
afforded in this chapter, to propagate the Arian heresy, must have very 



1 B. iii. c. 17. This baptism, therefore, is given into the death of Jesus The 

mention of the Father as of the author and sender ; the joint mention of the Holy 
Spirit, as of the Witness. Tov Trarpoc i] /ivrj/j,?}, tog airlov nal uttootoIeus ' rov nvcvfiaroc- 
i/ ov/i-apa/Xqifjig, ug fiaprvpog. [It may, perhaps, he doubted, whether the statement 
above is fully sustained by the evidence here adduced.] 

2 But others of them suppose that Jesus himself is the God overall, and glorify him 
as being his own Father. 

3 The God and Father of the only-begotten, and of the first-born of the whole crea- 
tion. 



INTERPOLATIONS. 429 

specially invited. On b. vii. c. 43, where it is said, ' the Father of the 
only-begotten God' (?6v narega tov fiovoyevovg Oeoh), Le Clerc re- 
marks, farther, that the phrase, /uoioyevi); debg, is unknown to the apos- 
tolic style ; but that it is an expression peculiar to the Arians, who 
called the Father unbegotten {^.yevvrjxov)^ but the Son begotten 
(yswijibv), and only-begotten God (uovoyevri 6e6p). It was chiefly the 
relation of Christ to the Father in the work of creation, that was offen- 
sive to the Arians, as it was exhibited in the orthodox system. The 
Avians objected to the full equality with the Father. In b. v. c. 20, 1 there 
is a passage which presents that relation in a sense altogether Arian : 
namely; in creating, Christ stood to the Father in the relation of a 
servant, ' ministering to his God and Father for the creation of the 
universe.' This statement can very easily have been inserted by an 
interpolator, as an addition which can be there or not, without essen- 
tially altering any thing in the connection. Turrian has sought to free 
the Constitutions here, as well as in b. viii. c. 12, from the reproach of 
Arianism, by suggesting that we can well speak of a ministering of 
Christ after his incarnation, but not before it. We do not, however, 
perceive what is here gained by this distinction. In any case, the min- 
istering relation still remains here ; for God has not created the world 
since the incarnation of Christ. 



On the Time when these Interpolations were undertaken. 

We endeavor here to give the time when the interpolations were 
made ; for we wish to use the traces of Arianism and Macedonianism 
for the more exact discussion and answering of this question. 

Already, in the comparison which we have instituted between our 
Constitutions and those of Epiphanius, there presented themselves many 
differences which could be explained only by supposing a later corrup- 
tion. The foregoing investigation has been occupied in showing that 
here and there, in the Constitutions, there is found something hetero- 
geneous and heretical, which belongs to a time later than that of their 
origin. Those who place the Constitutions in an earlier time, could 
perhaps adduce for the explanation of this circumstance the considera- 
tion that the Ante-Nicene Fathers, especially in the doctrine concerning 

1 Him, therefore, do we also preach to you. and declare him to be God the Word, 
who ministered to his God and Father for the creation of the universe. 



430 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

the trinity, very often employ many expressions which afterwards, in 
the Arian controversies, were assailed. The fact is incontestably true. 
Justin Martyr, Theophilus of Antioch, Irenseus, Clement of Alexandria, 
Tertullian, and Origen, use phrases and expressions which are found 
among the Arians. But, since neither the Arians nor the Catholics in 
their controversies used the Constitutions, and these were adduced 
neither for nor against Arianism, it may be inferred from this silence, 
especially from that of Athanasius, that neither party had any knowledge 
of the Constitutions with their present Arian corruptions. The Arians 
could not adduce them in their own favor, since, according to the testi- 
mony of Epiphanius, those old Constitutions contained nothing which 
deviated from the faith and the general standard of doctrine. Epipha- 
nius, who exerted himself so much to trace out each heresy, is hence the 
best voucher that the Constitutions at that time were free from any 
heretical corruption. The time, therefore, when they were corrupted, 
may be determined with certainty, so far as to say that the corruption 
must have occurred between the time of Epiphanius and that of the 
Trullan Council. We readily concede that this determination is very 
general, but in this we were speaking of what is certain, and cannot be 
called in question. On the contrary, we are willing to attempt, by a 
conjecture, to settle still more definitely the age of these interpolations. 

This conjecture rests on the fact that, in the eighth book of the Con- 
stitutions, there are found traces of Arianism. In b. viii. c. 12, the 
Arian heresy expresses itself, without any reserve. Christ is there the 
only -begotten God (/uovoysvrig dedg), who ministers to his God and 
Father, both in the various creation and in the corresponding providence. 1 
Even there, too, the begetting of the Son is expressed of the Father, but 
so modified that God begets him before all time, by his will, his power, 
and his goodness. 2 Very often, also, the expression, ' the first-born of 
every creation' ^nqoixoTonog rraarjg xjlo-ewg}, is applied to Christ. And 
there are found similar traces of Macedonianism. 3 In b. viii. c. 5, it is 
said of the Holy Spirit, only, that he was present as a witness at the 



1 B. viii. c. 12. "Ay Log de ml 6 fiovoyevrjg cov vcog 6 niipiog rj^idv ml -&eog 'Irjoovg 
Xpiorog • 6g elg irdvra VTrqperrjGa/Lievog oot rep -deep avrov ml narpl elg re drjfiiovpyiav 
diatyopov, teal irpovoLav mraXkvfkov. 

2 B. viii. c. 12 (nearer the beginning) : Tu navra en rod //# bvrog elg rb elvai ixapaya- 
ydv dca tov fiovoyevovg cov viov • avrov de irpo iravruv alcovuv yevvrjaag Qovlvqcet ml 
6vva/j.ec ml ayad-orrjrt afj-eatrevrug. 

3 Philastvius, Hser. 67, designates the nature of the Macedonian heresy thus : Spiri- 
tum autcm non de divina substantia, nee Deum verum, sed factum atque creatum 
Spiritum prajdicantes, ut eum conjungant et comparent creaturoe. 



INTERPOLATIONS. 431 

divine incarnation. And in b. viii. c. 37, God is called the Lord of the 
Holy Spirit. 2 These traces of the heretical opinions in this book, 
which have so much in common with the already adduced doctrinal 
corruptions of the first seven books, lead to the conjecture that those 
corruptions were introduced at the time when the eighth book was ad- 
ded, that is, towards the end of the fourth century. Hence also it may 
be inferred, with some probability, that he who added the eighth book 
was also the interpolator of the first seven. 

That our Constitutions favor Arianism, has been observed by modern 
Arians, who have endeavored to use them to their own advantage, but 
without success. At the same time, others also have wished to support 
and justify their heretical views by the Constitutions. 3 



Interpolations, not Doctrinal, that are found in the first Seven Books of 

the Constitutions. 

If now we have admitted doctrinal interpolations, and have endeavored 
also to show that these have been made only in particular passages and 
in single expressions, we must still, on the other hand, admit an inser- 
tion and corrupting of some, though only a very few chapters, — what 
happened in the progress of time, when new institutions and usages 
arose, and there was a desire to bring the Constitutions into harmony 
with these. "We have already called attention to the fact, that the 
doctrinal interpolations were made at the time of the writing of the 
eighth book ; and we shall be able to show the same in respect to the 
interpolations which are not doctrinal. It was natural that the author 
of the eighth book, as he added it to the seven preceding, should wish to 
bring the earlier books into harmony with his eighth book. He wished 



1 B. viii. c. 5. 2i> 6 dovg bpovg eKKTirjaiag, 6ta rrjg evaapnov Trapovacag rov Xptarov 
gov invb fiaprvpt tcj TrapaKXyro). 

2 B. viii. 37. 'O avapxog ti-ebg nal areTiEvTTjTog^ 6 rfiv bluv irocnrT/g 6cd Xpiarov /cat 
Krjdsficbv, Ttpb 6e tzccvtov avrov $sbg nal Trarrjp, 6 rov nvev/j-arog Kvptog. 

3 Thus Christoph Sand, in his Nucleus Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. i. p. 67, ed. Amstelod. ; 
Daniel Zuiker, in his Irenicum Irenicorum ; Samuel Crell, who, under the fictitious name 
of Lucas Mellierius, published Fides Christianorum ex Barnaba, Henna, Clemente 
Romano demonstrata, and Antiqua Fides de divinitate Christi asserta; and the 
author of the book entitled, Le Platonisme devoile, who, according to Cotta was 
Souverain, a French reformed preacher. Against these, Samuel Gardiner, George 
Bull, Abraham Calov, and others, have written. See J. F. Cotta's Versuch einer aus- 
fiihrlichen Kirchenhistorie des N. Testaments. Zweiter Theil, § 432, S. 1211 — . 



432 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

also to incorporate the later usages and the later established rites into 
these seven books, in order to give, as it were, a completeness to their 
contents ; as, for example, we perceive from the inserted chapter on the 
Christmas festival. We turn now to the interpolations not doctrinal that 
are contained in the second book. 

In the investigation on the second book of our Constitutions, we have 
already called attention to the incoherence of c. 57 and c. 58, and have 
shown that the external combination of the chapters indicates the later 
interpolation of c. 57. It therefore only remains for us here to bring 
from the contents of the chapters the proof of their spuriousness. 

In describing the structure of the church, it is mentioned in c. 57, 
that the church must have, on both sides at the east end, apartments, 
which are here called naoioqdoia} In our passage, there is not the 
least intimation for what use these apartments were designed ; nor is 
there any mention of them in the first seven books of our Constitutions. 
On the contrary, we find them mentioned in b. viii. c. 13, — a fact 
which again confirms the harmony and the analogy of the interpolations 
with the eighth book. Here it is commanded that the deacons, after the 
communion, take what remains of the oblations, and carry it into the 
apartments (to: naoiocpoqiu^r' That there was a similar place in the 
Jewish temple, is ascertained ; and it is in the highest degree probable* 
that the having of such a structure and repository connected with the 
main building, was transferred from the Jewish temple to the Christian 
church ; as even the Septuagint version in Ezek. 40 : 17, has this 
word (nuoiocpoqiu)? Some, but certainly without sufficient reason, 
have held these apartments to be the treasuries of the church, and, 
in support of this explanation, have appealed to the Jewish custom. 
Still, something seems to have been carried into them; and a very 
simple solution is furnished by what we learn from b. viii. c. 13, that 
there were rooms in which the oblations remaining from the communion 



1 B. ii. c. 57. ' And first, let the building be long, with its head to the east, with its 
vestries [or apartments] on both sides at the east end ; and so it will be like a ship. 
.... At a very early period, a ship Avas an emblem of the Christian church. On 
the favorite emblems of the Christians, as a dove, a lyre, an anchor, a fish, &c. see 
Neandcr's Denkwurdigkeiten aus der Geschichte des Christcnthums, Bd. i. Hft. ii. 
S. G9 — . 

2 B. viii. c. 13. And when all, both male and female, have partaken, let the Dea- 
cons carry what remaineth into the vestry, or private apartments (elc tu Traorotyopta). 

3 [Where the common English version has chambers; from the original Hebrew, 
fVlDtyS pb °f rP^S) a chamber, a cell; a dining room; an office or chamber for 
business.] 



INTERPOLATIONS. 43-3 

were stored up. If it is now very probable that this usage was bor- 
rowed from the Jews, it is also ascertained that it was not adopted 
earlier than towards the end of the fourth century. Our Constitutions 
are almost the only evidence concerning it. Jerome barely mentions the 
chambers, in his commentary on Ezek. 40: 17. Not a single writer of 
the earlier centuries alludes to these apartments. Hence we may well 
assume that they did not come earlier into use among the Christians. 

There now follow a multitude of liturgical and disciplinary directions 
which sometimes descend to things exceedingly minute and insignificant, 
and again harmonize with the eighth book, and with Chrysostom, in 
whose time we have placed that book. 

-It must by no means be forgotten that these particular disciplinary 
directions, which are given with so much precision and copiousness, 
point necessarily to a secure state of the church, already furnished with 
complete regulations ; a state which was still impossible at the time of 
the persecutions in the second half of the third century. Thus it is 
evident that a great multitude of the formalities and external obser- 
vances named in this chapter, had not yet come into use, to so great 
an extent. 

In the course of the chapter it is commanded, that, whenever any one 
is found sitting out of his place, he be rebuked by the Deacon, and be 
removed to the place proper for him. Here the place for each is very 
minutely defined ; and then it is again enjoined that the Deacon observe 
the people, so that no one may whisper, or sleep, or laugh, or nod. In 
like manner, Chrysostom ascribes to the Deacon the office of overseer, 
while he exhorts to call the Deacon, if any laugh or commit other 
follies. 1 

Above all, the gradation of clerical dignities is remarkable ; which, 
in the extent in which we find it in this chapter, first obtained the as- 
cendency after the Council at Nice. In our Constitutions it is com- 
manded, In the middle let the Bishop's throne be placed : and on eaclt 
side of him let the Presbytery sit down ; and let the Deacons stand near 
at hand, lightly dressed and well girded, so as to be unencumbered. J 
The same arrangement and order we find also in Gregory of Nazianzum, 
and in other writers of the fourth century. But that they were not 
yet customary in the third century we perceive from the fact that 



1 Chrysost. Homil. xxiv. in Act. Kelvrai, Tzuvreg ijjvxpol nal yepovreg • KadappaTa 
fiak7.ov oi veoi,yelG>VTeg. avaKayxafyvree, dialtyofjitvoi- ..... b/na?,eaov cdofiporepov 

OLK UV£XOfl£VOl>, TOV dlUKOUOV KU?^GOV. 

2 B. ii. c. 57. Keicdo) 6e /xiaog 6 rov eKiOKOirov dpovog • nap' enaTepa ds airov ko&s- 
$ea&u to irpscSv-tpLov, not ol diuKovoi Trapaarua&uaav Eboraktig rrjg -nJ^iovoc, isftHjTor. 

28 



434 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

the Council at Nice expressly forbids the Deacons to seat themselves 
among the Presbyters. 1 

It is a well-known fact that already the early Christians, in their 
prayers, turned themselves towards the east. The writers- of the second 
century presuppose this custom to be fully known ; but there were given 
for it very different reasons. We find this usage at that time among the 
heathen, who, when they prayed, turned themselves towards the rising of 
the sun. The Jews, on the contrary, in their praying, turned themselves 
towards the west, since in that quarter was the most holy place in their 
temple. Many conjectures have been made respecting the cause of the 
first Christians having departed so early from this custom. Some 
assumed that Christ was considered, symbolically, as the light and the 
sun, and that this idea lies at the basis of this symbolical act. Others 
would derive the usage from the heathen mysteries. But, as one of the 
reasons for it, our Constitutions specify its being adapted to remind us 
of the earlier possession of the Paradise, from which the first man was 
driven out, upon transgressing the divine command at the instigation of 
the serpent. 2 Bingham thinks that its origin is to be sought in the Bap- 
tism of the Christians ; since the candidates, when they had renounced 
the devil and his works, had turned their face towards the west ; on the 
contrary, when they had professed their attachment to Christ, they had 
turned their faces towards the east. 3 It would, however, be difficult to 
sustain this opinion ; for the ceremony here spoken of is mentioned first 
in authors of too late a period. Augusti, 4 who accedes to Bingham's 
opinion, has been able to adduce for the existence of this ceremony in 
baptism only Cyril of Jerusalem (Cateches. Myst. i. c. 2. 4. 9.) and Jerome 
(Comment, in Amos 6 : 14). It is mentioned in no writer of an earlier 
time. In -the passage of the Constitutions, b. vii. c. 44, which Augusti 
also adduces, the clause, But let him pray towards the east ^ooasv/sudh) 
ds v.ax' avaiohxc), is in such a connection that no such reference is to be 



1 Concil. Nicsen. Can. xviii. 'A/Ud jirjdl Ka-&7/G$ai hv /j.eog) rcbv 7rpeo[3vTepc)v e^iodu 
role SiciKOVoig. 

2 B. ii. c. 57. After this, let all rise up with one consent, and, looking towards the 
east, after the Catechumens and Penitents are gone out, pray to God who ascended up to 
the heaven of heavens to the east. Remembering also the ancient sittiation of Paradise 
in the east, whence the first man. when he had yielded to the temptation of the ser- 
pent, and disobeyed the command of God, was expelled. [Respecting the clause, who 
ascended up to the heaven of heavens to the east (/card avaToMe), sec the Septuagint 
version of Ps. 67 : 34 ; where, it is manifest, an error in translating arose from the 
ambiguity of a Hebrew word, D*?P. •] 

3 Bingham, Orig. torn, v, p. 275. 

« DenkwQrdigkeiten, Bd. 5, S. 401. 



INTERPOLATIONS. 435 

found in it as that author supposes ; but as in each prayer, so, too, in 
the prayer after baptism, a person stood, facing the east. 1 Besides, 
in b. vii. c. 40 and 41, where the renunciation of the adversary is 
enjoined, there is no mention of its being done with the face turned 
towards the west. But, even if we admit that in our Constitutions a 
trace occurs of this ceremony in baptism, as is not at all the fact, it 
would never prove that the origin of the custom of turning one's self 
towards the east in prayer is to be derived thence ; for long before our 
Constitutions, as is even generally admitted, this custom is found. 2 

The mention, however, of the conclusions of the verses (to. axQooTiziay 
shows us clearly that this chapter [the 57th of the second book] belongs 
to the fourth century. At first there is commanded, with considerable 
minuteness, the reading of the Holy Scriptures ; but, after two lesson's 
have been read, it is added, Let some other person sing the hymns of 
David, and let #he people repeat in singing the last parts of the verses. 4 
Now it is ascertained that this custom did not arise before the fourth 
century. Chrysostom, and the writers of his time, are the first who 
bring it forward as existing in their time. 5 Socrates also, in his Eccle- 
siastical History, b. v. c. 22, mentions it, and calls the precentors 
prompters (vnofiolelgj. 

But, besides the custom which we have mentioned, of standing in 
prayer, our Constitutions contain also the direction that, when the gospel 



1 [There certainly is a reference to the passage in 2 Chron. 5 : 12, as containing a 
precedent for standing up, with the face towards the east, in prayer. It will be borne 
in mind that the Septuagint version was used, and regarded as authoritative, while 
the Hebrew original was sadly neglected. In quoting the words /car' uvaroXag (tow- 
ards the east), what immediately follows them is overlooked, and the sense strikingly 
marred, but suited exactly to the case in hand. Would that, among later theologians, 
there were no instance of a similar, or a worse oversight !] 

2 While here, in b. ii. c. 57, and b. vii. c. 44, and in many passages of the Constitutions, 
the custom of standing upright in prayer, is mentioned, it is a custom which did not 
first arise in the third or fourth century, but it seems to have been usual in the earliest 
period of Christianity. The custom, it is probable, passed over to Christianity from 
Judaism; for the examples of prayers in Gen. 18: 22, 19: 27, 2 Chron. 20: 13, Job 
30 : 20, and in many other places of the Old Testament, speak in favor of the suppo- 
sition. 

3 Although, for the most part, anpocnxk or anpoanx'-ov denotes the beginning of a 
verse, as in the well-known acrostics of the Sibyls, yet it signifies also the end of a 
verse. 

4 B. ii. c. 57. 'A.va dvo 6s ysvo^svov uvayvcjofiuTuv, erepog rig Tovg rov Aa[3id ypal- 
AeTCJ vfivovg. nal 6 Tiabg ru uKpoorixt-a vncnpalXsTcj. 

5 Chrysost. Homil. xxxvi. in 1 Cor. '0 tyuXkov ypuXkst, fiovog, nav Truvreg vtt^x&giv \ 
ug e£ svbg GTo/xarog rj (povi} deperai. Homil. xi. in Math, uv 6vo tpal(xovg r/ rpelg v~tj- 
XrjoavTeg. 



436 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

.shall be read, all the Presbyters and Deacons, and all the people, 
shall stand in profound silence. 1 This custom which, at a later period, 
became general in the whole church, arose first in the age of Chrysostom. 
If, in the theatre, says he, the commands of the king are read, when a 
profound silence is obtained, how much more does it become all to be 
hushed, and to stand attentive, when the commands, not of an earthly 
Lord, but of the Lord of angels, are to be read. 2 Isidore of Pelusium, 

b. i. epist. 136, gives a corresponding account, and mentions that even 
the Bishop stood up, thereby indicating that the Lord himself was 
present. Several other writers relate the same ; as Philostorgius, b. iii. 

c. 5, from whom Nicephorus, b. ix. c. 18, has taken it; and Sozomen, b 
vii. c. 19. Besides, the usage is adopted in all the later Liturgies, 
Greek and Latin. This chapter proves also, that, at the time of its 
origin, several addresses were delivered, one after another. Thus it is 
said, In the next place, let the Presbyters, one by one, ^iot all together, 
exhort the people, and the Bishop in the last place, as being the com- 
mander. 3 This custom accords again with the age of Chrysostom, 
Thus, for example, the Bishop Flavianus preached after Chrysostom, 
while Chrysostom was a Presbyter at Antioch. 4 The existence of such a 
custom is testified also by Basil, 5 Gregory of Nyssa, 6 Theodoret/ Augus- 
tin, 8 Jerome, 9 and many others. On the contrary, not a single earlier 
testimony makes it credible or probable that it existed in the third 
century. Here, then, is another reason confirming what we have as- 
serted respecting the interpolation of the chapter before us. 



1 B. ii. c. 57. Kal brav uvayivucKOfXEVov if to evayyeliov, ttuvtec ol Trpeaj3vTEpoi, Kal 
oi Oicikovoi, Kal True 6 Aadf OTTjuercuoav (xeru, tcoTlTltjc iiovxlaq ■ yiypaivTat yap cnuira Kal 
ukove 'Xcparfh. 

2 Chrysost Homil. i. in Math. Et yap ekI -&Eurpov 7ro/U?)c ciy?/C yEvofisvrjs, tote tu 
rov ftaoiTieug avayivtoGKE-aL ypd/ifxaTa- ttoA/Iw [luXkov ettI ttjs noXsuc Tai)Tr/g unavrdc, 
del KaTEOTuXd-at, Kal op&alc Talg aKpaig laravai ' ov yap EmyEiov Tivog, uXku tov tuv 
uyys"kuv 6eo7t6tov tu, ypuftfiaTa uvayivuGKEotiai [ieTiXei. 

;f B. ii. c. 57. Kal £^r/r TcapaKaXeiruxjav ol irpEc^vTEpoi tov labv, 6 Ka&slg avTiJv, 
iiKhb, fir/ anavTsg ' Kal TEAzvTalor -kuvtcjv 6 t-TUCTcoTroc, 6g eolke Kvf3spv7jTr). 

4 Chrysost. Homil. iv. de verb. Jes. 'Tai'Ta (pvldccov-EC, avaxoypfjacofisv otKads ■ [iak- 
\ov (Ye Tavra <j)vluooov~E<;, ds^u/xs^a Kal ttjv Te.2,Eio)T£pav tov Kalov diSaaKiikov itapai- 
veoiv • to, fj.lv ydp ^erepn, oia dv elt}, exei tu, ttjs veottjtoc dEiyfWTa • tu 6e tovtov, ola 
uv ^, nlEtova KEKoofirjTai ru> <j>pov?/fian. Comp. Homil. ii. in Psalm 49: 17, and 
Homil. xxxvi. in 1 Cor. 

Basil. Horn, xviii. in Barlaamum Martyrcm. 

8 Greg. Nyss. Orat. in Ordinat. 

< Theodoret, in 1 Cor. 14: 31. 

e Augustin. Serin, in Psalms 94 : 95 : and 131. 

* Hicronym. Epist. 2, and Epist. 61. Compare also Cotelerius on this place in the 
Constitutions. He has collected many other passages, and some decrees of councils. 



INTERPOLATIONS. 437 

We turn now to c. 59, for the purpose of proving here also from the 
contents the later interpolation. 

The chapter contains especially many admonitions to attend divine 
service with diligence. 'Assemble yourselves together/ it is directed, 
* every day, morning and evening, singing psalms and praying in the 
Lord's house ; in the morning saying the sixty-second psalm, and in 
the evening the hundred and fortieth/ This custom, however, is found 
in no other place of the seven books of our Constitutions. On the con- 
trary, both psalms are mentioned in the eighth book. In b. viii. c. 35, 
it is said, for instance, 'and after the repetition of the psalm at the 
lighting up of the lights' (x«l ftSTtk to Qr t dr\vu.i rbv Ircilvyviov ipulftof), 
by which the same is indicated as in b. ii. c. 59, by the hundred and 
fortieth psalm ; and in b. viii. c. 37, it is said in like manner, 'After 
the repetition of the morning psalm' ((isto. to ^d^vat tov ogdgivov), 
by which the sixty-second is designated. Here it ought to be fur- 
ther remarked, that, according to our usual division, it is the sixty- 
third. Certainly, a striking evidence in favor of what we are main- 
taining is furnished by the fact that this psalm occurs in no ancient 
writer before the middle of the fourth century. It is Chrysostom that 
[first] mentions it expressly. 1 He calls it the morning psalm (ipuluo; 
eo)div6g), which 'enkindles a desire after God, and elevates the soul, 
inflaming it exceedingly, and filling it with much joy and love.' Now 
we admit that Chrysostom does not adduce the psalm by name, but he 
gives us the beginning, ' God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee ' 
(or, rather, as it stands in the Septuagint version, o Oebg, 6 6e6; ^ou, 
Ttoo; as 6o(9o^o>), from which it appears, beyond contradiction, that our 
sixty-third psalm was intended by Chrysostom. 

We proceed to the interpolation which has occurred in the fifth book. 
It has been shown already (p. 389), that the 13th chapter does not 
cohere with the chapter which precedes it, nor with that which follows 
it ; and that it was inserted for the purpose of completing the cycle of 
the festivals. 

In c. 13, it is commanded, 'Brethren, observe the festival days ; and 
first the birthday of the Lord, which must be celebrated by you on the 
twenty-fifth day of the ninth month ; after which, hold the Epiphany 
very much in honor, on which the Lord manifested to us his divinity ; 



1 Chrysost. Comment, in Psalm 140: Tolovrog egtl nal 6 £wi9wdf ipa?,[j.6r .... tov 
ttoSov uvutttel rbv irpbg tov Seov. nal dieyelpei T7)v ipvxr/v, nal c<p66pa TTvpuaag, teal tto%- 
/j/S IftTcTiT/aar uyaT^OTTjTOC, teal uyu-Tjg, ovTug ucbeTjac Trpooel&clv • tdcj/jsv Ss nal 7t68ev 
opxETdL, nal tl SiSugkei ijfidg- b i^edf, 6 &edg fiov, -pog oebpdpl£w, edtxl'Tjos as ?/ ipvxv /Jov • 
oiiTcog ev ru) uyio) cj(j>$?]v gol. tov Idelv ttjv dvvaij.lv gov nal tt/v dbZav gov. 



438 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

and let this festival be celebrated on the sixth day of the tenth month.' * 
Here, in the first place, we must consider that in this precept, Christmas 
and Epiphany are considered as two distinct festivals. Now it is gen- 
erally acknowledged that the celebration of Christmas first became 
customary at a comparatively late period, and that in the beginning 
Christmas and Epiphany were identical. It remains, therefore, for us 
to investigate, when Christmas and Epiphany were introduced as sepa- 
rate festivals, and when they were first celebrated on the days fixed by 
our Constitutions. 

As no dogma was immediately connected with the birth of our Lord, 
it happened that in the ancient church it was long before the celebra- 
tion of Christmas was introduced. It became customary by degrees, 
and not till late. Some few traces of it, indeed, are found in the first 
centuries ; but they are very uncertain, and have against themselves 
many historical considerations. 2 It is remarkable, that in the Oriental 
church, for three centuries, the day of the festival of Epiphany, the sixth 
of January, was celebrated as the birthday of our Lord. There were 
several reasons for this celebration ; and the different churches severally 
attributed to them a different value. Some celebrated the festival in 
honor of the incarnation of Christ ; others on account of the appearing 
of the star, which guided the Magians to the Saviour ; others still on 
account of his baptism, where the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, 
represented him as the Son of God ; finally, others still, on account of 
the first miracle of Christ, by which he manifested his glorious character. 3 

The first sure historical testimony concerning the celebration of the 
festival of Christmas is given us by Chrysostom, who, in a homily 
delivered in the year 386, while he was a Presbyter at Antioch, ex- 
pressly says that the festival of the birth of Christ had come into use in 
the east within ten years, and that hence it was rejected by many, as an 



1 B. v. c. 13. Tag iiiiEpag~TC)V eoprtiv (J>v?mg(7et€, ude?i<j)Ot, nal irptoryv ye rqv yev£-&?uov, 
TjTiQ vfitiv kitiTsTieLGdo el/tadc Trs/mrn rov kvvarov firjvog, (/,£&' tjv tj kmfyaviog v/ilv ear a 
TtfiioruTT], naft' yv 6 tcvptog avudec^tv -j][uv rrjg olneiag ^eoryrog eTtoiTjaaro' yivecdu 6e 
Kal avrrj £kti) rov dendrov /nyvog. 

2 Here belongs the testimony of Clement of Alexandria, Stromat. lib. i. p. 407. 
Eiot tie ol irepiepyorepov ry yeveaei rov aarfjpog r/fi&v ov fxovov rb hog. uXKu ml rrjv ijiie- 
pav npooredevreg. When, now, in the sequel of this passage, the twenty-fifth day of 
the month Pachon, in the twenty-eighth year of Augustus, is mentioned as the birth- 
day of our Lord, there is still contained in it only a chronological determination, but 
not the mention of a celebration of a festival commemorating his birth. 

3 Hence the various names of this festival. It is called also Bethphania, in refer- 
ence to the miracle at Cana; also the festival of the three kings (festum trium Be- 
gum), the feast of the Magians (festum Magorum), &c. 



INTERPOLATIONS. 439 

innovation. 1 From other homilies of Chrysostom it is clear that, from 
that time onward, Christmas and Epiphany were considered as distinct 
festivals ; for he speaks of them as of two days, which, at an earlier 
period, w T ere held for one and the same. 2 As formerly the words 
Epiphany, appearance (Inicpurtiu), and birthday (yev&dfoa), had been 
used synonymously, so now a first Epiphany and a second were dis- 
tinguished ; of which the first was the festival of Christmas, the 
second the festival of Epiphany. It is striking that, for several centu- 
ries, the custom in the west differed from that in the east ; for in the 
west, Christmas was celebrated much earlier ; here, too, Christmas and 
Epiphany had constantly been separated from each other, and considered 
as two distinct festivals. On this point we find the most definite testi- 
monies in Jerome, 3 Cassian, 4 and several western church fathers. 

From the testimonies of Chrysostum, therefore, it is evident that 
Christmas and Epiphany, as festivals distinct from each other, were 
not celebrated in the east sooner than towards the end of the fourth 
century, perhaps about the year 375. It now becomes manifest that our 
Constitution respecting Christmas and Epiphanv, which is found in this 
thirteenth chapter, cannot have been made towards the end of the third 



1 Chrysost. Homil. xxxiii. De Natali Christi, p. 417, ed. Francof. Ovna dsaarbv 
hcTiv frog, ef ov dyXrj /cat yvupifioc; yfj.lv avrrj r) r)(j,spa yEyevrjrac itapa [ilv rolg rr)v 
icKepav oIkovglv avu&ev yvopifrftivr}, rrpbg rjudg de KOfitcdeloa vvv, ml ov ixpb ixoXhCov 
kruv iv&poov ovrug avedpafi-E, &c. Chrysostom delivered this whole Homily at the cel- 
ebration of the birthday of our Lord, which had not before been celebrated in Antioch. 
But several had declared themselves against this new festival ; and Chrysostom en- 
deavors to gain these by proving that the twenty-fifth of December was actually the 
birthday of our Saviour. A [German] translation of this Homily is found in J. A. 
Cramer's work: Des heiligen Kirehen-Lehrers Johannes Chrysostomus, Ertzbischofs 
und Patriarchen zu Konstantinople, Predigten und kleine Schriften, aus dem Griech- 
ischen iibersetzt. Filnfter Bd. S. 437-470. Leips. 1749. 8vo. 

2 Chrysost. Homil. xxiv. De Baptism. Christi, p. 276, ed. Francof. "On [zev ovv 
krayavELa r) Tzapovaa Asjetcu koprrj dr)?i6v egtc tcuglv. — akld rivog evekev, oi%l ?/ rjfdpa 
nati' r)v etex&V, uhX' r) fjfiepa m& r)v EfSavcriudr], ETuQavEta /leyerar avrrj yap egtcv 
r/fxepa Ka& r)v EfiarrriGaro, nal rrjv rtiv vdaruv rjyiaos (pVGtv. 

3 Hieronymi Comment, in Ezech. 1. Apud Orientales October erat primus mensis, 
et Januaris quartus. Quintum autem diem mensis adjungit, ut significet baptisma, in 
quo aperti sunt Christo cash, et Epiphaniorum dies hue usque venerabilis est; non, ut 
quidam putant, natalis in corne. Tunc enim absconditus est et non apparuit : Quod 
huic tempori congruit, quando dictum est, Hie est filius meus, in quo mihi com- 
placui. 

4 Cassiai# Collat. x. c. ii. Epiphaniorum diem provincise illius sacerdotes vcl 
dominici baptismi, vel secundum carnem nativitatis esse definiunt, et idcirco utriusque 
sacramenti solemnitatem non bifarie, ut in occiduis provinciis, sed sub una diei hujus 
festivitate concelebrant. 



440 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

century which we have pointed out as the time of the origin of the first 
seven books of the Constitutions ; for these festivals were not celebrated 
in the east before the end of the fourth century. The contents as well 
as the [want of] coherency of the chapters, therefore, indicate a 
later age and interpolation of this chapter. If now we ask when the 
interpolation occurred, there presents itself the reply that this Con- 
stitution was inserted when the eighth book was added. From a com- 
parison with the eighth book we perceive that in c. 33 of that book, 
Christmas and Epiphany are represented as distinct festivals. 1 And 
the testimony of the Incomplete Work on Matthew proves the celebration 
of Christmas towards the end of the fourth century. 2 

It is more than probable, therefore, that the author of the eighth book 
inserted the Constitution concerning the festivals of Christmas and 
Epiphany, in c. 13, for the purpose of producing a harmony with his 
eighth book, and with the custom of his age. On the interpolation of c. 
17, we have already spoken at large. (See p. 392.) 



CHAPTER VI 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK OF THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

On the question whether the Eighth Booh be a whole or consist of 

several parts. 

We have separated the eighth book, as belonging to a later time, from 
the investigation on the first seven books : and it now devolves on us to 



1 Const, b. viii. c. 3. Tt/v tlov yeve&Xiuv eopryv upyeirucav, &a to h avrrj ryv 
u7rpood6n7]Tov %apiv Sed6<r&cu av&puTroic;, yevv>]&?}vai tov tov -&eov Tioyov 'lr/oovv Xptarov 
en Maptag i% irap-&ivov enl Gwrrjpiov tov noofiov • ttjv tuv eTrtyaviuv eopri/v upyeiruoav, 
did, to hv uvT7] uvadei^cv yeyevrjodai T)/g tov XpiOTOV ■&eoTr/Tog. 

2 Opus Imperfectum in Math. 24 : 23. Ab sequinoctio vernali duodecimi mensis 
incipiunt paullatim tcpcscere acres per singulos dies, usque ad mensem tertium, et 
dies fieri noctibus longiores. Item ab sequinoctio autumnali mensis septimi incipiunt 
paullatim iterum frigescere acres per singulos dies, ct noctes fieri longiones diebus 
usque ad mensem nonum, quando celcbratur Christ! natalis. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK. 441 

bring the proof for what we assumed. In the preceding investigation, 
we Lave held fast the unity of the first seven books, but have also called 
attention to the fact, that those who regard the Constitutions as consist- 
ing of many small separate parts, proceed in this assertion from what 
appears in the eighth book. (See p. 279.) One of the first who proposed 
this opinion, is Grabe, who, as he examined the Baroccian manuscripts, 
xxvi. and clxxxv. in the Bodleian library, soon convinced hinw I that the 
Teachings (/JidaGxaliai) of the apostolical fathers contained in them 
harmonized with most of the regulations in the eighth book of our Con- 
stitutions ; by which circumstance he was confirmed in his opinion that 
the whole work of the Constitutions consisted of ] arts brouiht together 
from different sources. The more important this circumstance is for the 
investigation on the eighth book, the more necessary will it be to place 
together and compare these Teachings of the Baroccian manuscripts 
with our Constitutions. 1 In the first manuscript or codex, after the 
canons of several councils (fol. 146, p. 2), is found a Teaching of 
the holy apostles concerning gifts (didaaxulia rwv dyicov ditoGtolow 
TtEol ^aQiG^idrmv), which begins with the words, Our God and Sav- 
iour Jesus Christ, delivering to us the great mystery of godliness 
(Tov &£ov y.ca ocotiJqos r^mv ^Irfiov Xoigtov to fA,s'ya r7jg tvGefieiag 
7]fiiv 7tciQadid6vrog iivarijoiov). The end of this Teaching coincides with 
the end of c. 2. Since now, that which follows in the Baroccian codex 
(fol. 151, p. 2), under the title, ' Constitutions of the same holy Apostles 
concerning Elections, by Hippolytus' (diard^Eig tav avzav dyicov drtoG- 
rnlojv Tteol xeiooroviav did \T7tTt0lvr0v), has a beginning like that of the 
fourth chapter, Wherefore we, the twelve apostles of the Lord, being 
together {"A^ia xoivvv imdoyovTzg fymg oi 8co8ey.a rod y.volcv dnoGtoloi), 
Grabe conjectures, not without good reason, that the third chapter was 
inserted by the compiler of the eighth book, on account of the connec- 
tion and coherency. This Teaching ends (fol. 158, p. 2) with the 
words, For the church is a school, not of confusion, but of good order 
(/) yog txxhjGia ovy. dzah'ag, alX evruhiag lor) didaoyahTor), with which, 
in our eighth book, c. 31 closes. But it is to be remarked that, in these 
Constitutions of Hippolytus, there are contained only the fourth and the 
fifth chapters, and those from the sixteenth to the twenty-eighth, inclusive ; 
and that the other chapters, from the sixth to the fifteenth, and c. 29, 
are wanting. 

If we pursue the comparison further, the Teaching which begins with 



1 Since we ourselves could not compare these codices or manuscripts, we follow 
Grabe in respect to them. See his Spicilegium Patrum Seculi I. p. 285. 



442 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

the words, I Paul, the least of the apostles (Eyco Ilavlog 6 rav ditOGto- 
l(ov tldyjGzog), ends with, 'The Constitutions of Paul the holy apostle 
concerning ecclesiastical canons.' (Ilav).ov rov dyiov dnoGrokov diaru^eig 
rteol y.avovcov txxlrjOiaotixoov.) In the other codex (clxxxv. part i. fol. 9, 
p. 1), is found the same, only the introductory words are left out, and it 
begins immediately with the words, Those that first come (ol 7tQcor(og 
TtQoawvteg). In the former codex (fol. 160, p. 1), in the latter (fol. 9, 
p. 2), the Teaching ends with the words, ' in the epistles we have taught' 
(tv ralg tmoroXalg tdtdd'Sa^iev). It is obvious that those Constitutions 
(dcard'Seig), which in these codices are exhibited as canons of Paul, are 
the thirty-second chapter of our eighth book. In the former codex (fol. 
160, p. 1), follow, ' Constitutions of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul' 
(Jltroov xou IJavlov rav dyiav aTtOGrolozv diard^eig), which begin with 
the words, I Peter and Paul ordain (tyd) Tlhoog kou Ilavlog oiaraGGO- 
[isda), and (fol. 163, p. 1), with the words, < Fulfilling the command of 
our Lord Jesus Christ' (tvrolijv rov xvqiov r^mv 'Irfiov Xoiorov v/.7ih\- 
Qovvreg). These Constitutions are contained again in our eighth book, 
c. 33, 34, 42, 43, 44, and 45 ; but the chapters from 35 to 41, inclusive, 
are wanting. Finally, in the former codex (fol. 163, p. 1), under the 
superscription, A Teaching of all the holy Apostles concerning good 
order (jieqI evraUag oioaGxalia rtdvrwv rav dyicov djtoGrolcov), there is 
also contained the forty -sixth chapter of our eighth book. The Teach- 
ing in that codex begins with the words, Bat this we all enjoin in com- 
mon (Tovro ds xoivij ndvreg 7taoayysllo[A8v), and (fol. 166, p. 1) ends 
w r ith, * were appointed by Christ, the incomparable high priest ' (ynh rov 
Xqigzov 7tQ0E%ei.Qi6drjGuv rov d()%L8Q£(og rov davyxQixov), and agrees there- 
fore with our eighth book, word for word. 1 

We have presented this matter fully, that a judgment might the more 
easily be formed concerning the hypothesis which has been brought for- 
ward. And we accede to the opinion, that the eighth book is composed 
of materials from different sources ; but we dissent from Grabe in this, 
namely, that we cannot assume, with him, that these single parts are 
teachings of apostolical fathers, perhaps of Barnabas, Clement, Ignatius, 
and others. It has already been mentioned, too, that his inference from 
the eighth book to the seven other books of the Constitutions is arbi- 



1 The same, according to Grabe, is to be found in Cod. vii. inter Historicos Ecclesi- 
asticos juxta ordinem Nesselii, Part. v. Catalog. Mss. Grrccorum, p. 20 and 21 of the 
I Lbrary at Vienna. [It ought, perhaps, to be remarked that, in this passage of our 
Constitutions, as it now stands in the common editions, the word deov is added ; so 
that Christ seems to be represented as the high priest of the incomparable God.] 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK. 443 

trary and adventurous. That this eighth book is composed of several 
single parts, the comparison which Grabe has instituted of those codices, 
has unquestionably proved, and it would be difficult to bring any thing 
in opposition. But still, it by no means follows that these single parts 
proceeded from apostolical fathers. And what reason is finally adduced 
by Grabe to prove his assertion ? Properly, no other than that these 
single parts are represented in some codices as Teachings of Apostolical 
Fathers. But this can prove it, no more than the mere fact that the 
name of Clement, on the title-page of our Constitutions, can prove 
him to be the author of them. Besides, it appears from the contents, 
most clearly, that this opinion is altogether erroneous, and that this 
eighth book must have come into existence in a still later time than the 
first seven. 

In favor of the assertion that the eighth book was added at a later 
time, speaks also in particular, the consideration that the eighth book 
repeats very many precepts (and sometimes in a sense and spirit quite 
altered) which are contained in the earlier books. We will in the 
sequel call attention to this, and make some specifications. The eighth 
book contains a liturgy so complete, extending itself to the most insig- 
nificant little matters, that we may at once infer it could not have been 
produced at the same time with the seven other books. In our pre- 
ceding investigation, we have remarked how, in various places of the 
Constitutions, the persecutions are mentioned which the Christians suf- 
fered at the time when the work was prepared. The believers are in it 
admonished not to deny Christ, and are summoned to help those who 
suffer persecutions for Christ's sake. In short, every thing proves to us 
that, at the time of making the first seven books, the church was not 
yet recognized, and that the liturgical and ecclesiastical element had not 
yet fully developed itself. But to what an entirely different time do the 
contents of the eighth book conduct us ! It contains a liturgy that gives 
comprehensive rules for all ecclesiastical and liturgical relations. From 
the first seven books it would appear, that the church was not yet firmly 
established, but rather that it was shaken and oppressed. Heathen 
emperors still reigned ; and in the Christian church there was neither a 
settled liturgy nor a constant law for other ecclesiastical concerns. But 
in the time when the eighth book originated, the church must necessarily 
have been already quite firmly established, and not molested at all from 
without. The whole liturgical contents of this book prove, now, that it 
was composed and added under the influence of the later ecclesiastical 
discipline, when the church no longer suffered persecutions. This is 
especially confirmed by one of the most ancient translations of the 



444 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Constitutions, in which that whole liturgy is wanting. 1 There is still 
another weighty external proof, namely, that this whole liturgy never 
came into use in any church of the east, although the liturgies of James, 
of Basil, of Chrysostom, and of others, were received with favor and 
publicly used. 

That these single parts in those codices bear the names of apostolical 
men, is easily explained ; for history on this subject clearly testifies, that 
men have constantly endeavored to carry back all liturgies and especially 
all liturgical elements, even those which arose very late, to the earliest 
time. Thus we find that general tradition has made James, the brother 
of our Lord, the author of almost all Oriental Greek liturgies. It 
is acknowledged, indeed, that Basil, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Gelasius, 
and Gregory, have exerted very considerable influence on the form of 
the liturgy ; but all the modifications and changes were, as much as pos- 
sible, carried back to the apostolical, or at least to an early time ; and 
every thing arbitrary was avoided with great caution. It is certain that 
the first form of the liturgy depended on the general necessities and 
common views and feelings of the principal ancient churches. 

Almost all the churches assert that their own liturgy is the most 
ancient, and derive it constantly from an apostle, usually from James. 
This is the case even with the Greek church ; which, although it con- 
cedes that Basil was the first who wrote down the oral traditions, yet 
derives these immediately from the apostle James. 2 Among the Copts 
there is found a liturgy of St. Basil, besides a liturgy of St. Gregory of 
Nazianzum, and a liturgy of St. Cyril of Alexandria. If we may even 
admit that single elements of these liturgies proceed from the authors 
named, still their authenticity is by no means to be proved. 3 Thus the 
Ethiopic church has, among several other liturgies, one of St. John. 
It cannot here be the place to treat more particularly of the various 
liturgies. On this subject, however, we cannot forbear just to call 
attention to some periods in the history of the ancient church. Until 
the middle of the third century there still prevails a simple, not a com- 
plicated manner of divine service. The end of the third and the begin- 
ning of the fourth century form the transition, till, in the time of Cyril 
of Jerusalem, and of Chrysostom, we perceive a divine service completely 
changed, and often departing essentially from the earlier. 



1 Rcnaudot. Collect. Liturg. Orient, torn. i. p 10. 

2 Rcnaudot. Collect. Liturg. Orient, torn, ii p. 49. 

3 Rcnaudot. Collect, torn. i. p. 1G9-314. Dissert, de Coptitarum Liturgia. p. SO—. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK. 445 

It has already been conceded that the author or compiler of the 
eighth book arranged single parts, and, most probably, added to these 
some formularies. This conjecture is confirmed by the fact that many 
Constitutions contained in the eighth book can stand quite alone by 
themselves, and that a whole series of chapters is found where Constitu- 
tions of individual apostles are presented, each one of which, standing by 
itself, forms a whole. Such a form is entirely different from that of the 
seven other books, where the apostles impart directions in common, and 
where only sometimes one of them is particularly named, when some- 
thing is adverted to which pertains to one of them personally. But in 
the form in which here, in the eighth book, the apostles come forward to 
speak, and give directions on single subjects, there is found no example 
in the seven other books. On the contrary, the form of these Constitu- 
tions in the eighth book sustains exactly the assertion set up. On single 
liturgical and disciplinary subjects, in particular churches, there were 
found regulations, which although they arose in a very late time, yet 
were carried back to the apostles, and were acknowledged under their 
name. The compiler of these single regulations collected them as they 
were scattered in the churches ; and he combined them in this eighth 
book, together with some parts proceeding from himself, under the name 
of individual apostles, as in this eighth book we find a Constitution of 
James, of John, of Philip, of Thomas, and of other apostles. But we 
have already shown that these regulations, though they may bear the 
name of apostles or of apostolical men, cannot be placed in that early 
time, but that the circumstance is to be explained only from the fact 
that there was a desire to furnish all later regulations with apostolical 
authority. 

The contents of almost all these Constitutions indicate a very late 
time. Hence we have already (p. 360) fixed on the end of the fourth 
or the beginning of the fifth century as the time when the eighth book 
was prepared. In the discussion of the external testimonies respecting 
the Constitutions, we examined carefully the testimony of the Incomplete 
Work on Matthew, which makes the existence of the eighth book of the 
Constitutions in that time, at least, most highly probable. Since a 
passage which the Incomplete Work adduces from the eighth book is not 
contained in it, we must, of course, ascribe the omission of this passage 
to a later corruption, or we are compelled to assume that the citation is 
erroneous, — what to me at least seems the more probable, because, in 
the passage referred to of the Constitutions, there is no trace of an 
omission. 1 

1 [But see the discussion, p. 317.] 



446 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Now the using of most of the prescribed forms of the eighth book in 
the end of the fourth and in the beginning of the fifth century, can 
decidedly be pointed out ; so that we cannot doubt that in most of these 
prescribed forms there are preserved to us the constituent elements of a 
liturgy, which began to be formed about the middle and towards the end 
of the fourth century, in opposition to the earlier simple liturgy. "We 
would illustrate this by a comparison with Chrysostom ; for the simi- 
larity of the liturgical forms in his works and in our Constitutions 
is so great, that often we do not know whether he has used and 
given back the forms in our Constitutions, or whether the reverse has 
occurred. But it hence appears that the compiler of our eighth book 
has collected the regulations existing in particular churches in the 
time of Chrysostom, and has united them into this eighth book ; so 
that it brings before our eyes the liturgical and ecclesiastical state of 
that time. From this, of course, it by no means follows that elements 
of an earlier time should not be found in these Constitutions of the 
eighth book ; but the earlier time is had in view and used, just as 
in all liturgies and regulations, even those which were formed the 
latest. A thorough comparison, however, will show incontestably that 
in this eighth book of the Constitutions is exhibited the liturgical and 
disciplinary state of the second half of the fourth century. 

It is, indeed, difficult to explain, why no positive testimony has come 
down to us respecting the comparatively late addition of the eighth book. 
Epiphanius, as we have seen, mentions the seventh book ; and the In- 
complete Work on Matthew is the first that quotes the eighth. The testi- 
mony of Epiphanius is, therefore, only a negative one, though here it is not 
to be denied that the argument from silence is always somewhat doubtful. 
The compiler, who met with the first seven books, and to whom what is 
liturgical in the seventh book seemed not sufficiently extensive, could easily 
conceive the thought of adding a new book, consisting of a collection of 
liturgical prescribed forms, in order thus to complete the Constitutions, 
and to make them more useful for his time. For this purpose he saw 
that he had occasion to undertake, in the first seven books, those interpo- 
lations which we have pointed out in them. If, now, there is extant no 
direct external testimony respecting the addition of the eighth book, yet 
the testimony of the Trullan Council proves that, in any case, an impor- 
tant change in the Constitutions had occurred ; so that the objection, that 
there is no external testimony respecting the addition of the eighth book, 
is much diminished. 

The Constitutions, which never gained a general practical influence, 
now set up, as it were, an ideal liturgy, and an ideal rule, for most of the 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK. 447 

ecclesiastical relations ; but while much indicates an earlier time, 
almost all in this eighth book can be pointed out as existing towards 
the end of the fourth century. 



Particular Investigation on the Eighth Booh of the Constitutions. 1 

Several have conjectured that Hippolytus, according to some, Bishop 
of Portus Romanics, according to others, Bishop of Aden in Arabia, was 
the author of the eighth book. This conjecture is founded only on the 
facts that Hippolytus, according to tradition, is said to have written 
a work entitled Apostolical tradition concerning Gifts ( ' AnooxoXvAri 
rtaoddoGig Tteol %ao((j(jidrcQv), 2 and that the general superscription of our 
book also is concerning Gifts. But how uncertain and insufficient these 
considerations are, scarcely needs to be mentioned. The beginning of 
the eighth book treats also concerning gifts (Tteol %aQi(j[tdr(av) ; and we 
have seen that the manuscripts compared by Grabe contain, c. 1 and 2, 
a Teaching that may stand by itself. Hence it is possible, since these 
two chapters contain nothing indicative of their not having been written 
in the third century, that the compiler of the eighth book has borrowed 
them from that work of Hippolytus. Still, this remains problematical. 
After the third chapter (most probably for the sake of the transition) is 
inserted, the fourth treats copiously respecting ordination. We perceive 
from it how great a participation the people at that time had in the 
choice of the clergy, — that three times the question was directed to the 
people, whether the clergyman was worthy of the office to be intrusted 
to him. Now the custom is mentioned, that one of the principal Bishops 
offer a prayer of consecration, while the other Bishops and Presbyters 
pray silently, and the Deacons hold the gospels open on the head of him 
who is to be ordained. 3 We find the same custom in the time of Chrys- 



1 The contents of the book are nepl xapto/xaruv, ml xuporovtuv, ml mvovuv ekkXt]- 

CiaGTLHUV. 

2 Hippolytus was, without doubt, one of the most important ecclesiastical writers of 
the third century. Of his numerous writings, alas ! only fragments have come down 
to us ; and besides, the accounts respecting his writings are very defective ; so that it 
is still uncertain, whether what he wrote concerning gifts and concerning apostolical 
tradition, were two distinct works. 

3 B. viii. c. 4. Kat oio-rjg yevofievrjr £tg tuv Trpuruv ernaKOTTCov upa ml dvalv eripoLg 
7r?,7jalov rov ■dvaLaarrjpiov earug r&v ? u ot~cJv e-iOKOwuv ml TrpeafivTeptov aiun?) izpoaev- 
XO[j£VG)v, T(I)v 6e' dtanovov ru -&ela evayyekia errl rfjg rov x^po'ovov^ievov netyalfjc; aveir- 
rvyfiEva mrexovTuv, TiEyeru npbg -Qeov. 



448 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

ostoni. The people then had the liveliest participation in the choice 
of the Bishop, and had to be agreed respecting the worthiness of the 
man to be chosen. 1 In harmony with the Constitutions, Chrysostom 
mentions that, while the clergy were ordained, the gospel was laid on 
their heads. 2 

In the end of c. 5, in which a prayer of consecration is given, 3 it is 
commanded that when the reading of the Scriptures is ended, and the 
Bishop has offered his prayer, the Deacon shall ascend a high place, and 
proclaim, Let none of the hearers, let none of the unbelievers, stay 
(fA,rj ng rwv d-AQOco[uiwv, ^iij rig rwv dnioj cov). 4 Upon this there follows, 
in c. 6, the prayer for the Catechumens. . . . This prayer is in many 
respects very remarkable. It is a simple, solemn, truly Christian 
prayer ; and it is alniDst the only one of the kind that has come down 
to us. But it is especially remarkable for its striking accordance with 
Chrysostom. Pie gives in his second Homily, on the second epistle to the 
Corinthians, an explanation of the prayer for the Catechumens, which 
was contained in the liturgy of his church. 5 He often quotes the very 
words of the church prayer, so that the great agreement of that prayer 
with our Constitutions is self-evident. Particular discrepancies, it is 
true, there are, but still very unessential, — the sentences being some- 
times longer, and sometimes more compact. If, now, we consider that 
Chrysostom's recital, most probably, was not an exact repetition, the 
little discrepancies will be fully explained, and the identity of the two 



1 Chrysost. De Sacerdot. lib. iii. c. 15. 

2 De Laudib. Evangel. 'Ev ralg x £L P orov ' iai £ ~^ v iGpeav, to evayyeliov rov Xpiorov 
iitl KctyaTJfiQ riderac, Iva fxa^y 6 xeiporovovfievog, on ttjv Mitj&lvtjv tov evayyeXiov napav 
'Xafj.fluvei, nal Iva {lady el nal ttcivtuv ban K£<f>a?a], ukX vnb rovrovg wparrei rove vopovg, 
TtavTov Kpartiv, nal rib vo/xep upaTovjievog, iravra vojioSetuv kqX vko tov vo/xov vofioderov- 
fievog. 

3 At the close of the consecration, the Bishops are to greet the newly-consecrated 
Bishop with a kiss : iravruv abrbv QiXrjcdvndv no ev nvpico <f)i?.7jfj.an. The same is 
directed in the Hicrarchia Ecclesiastica of the pseudo-Dionysius Areopagita, c. 5 : 
uvTra^o/ievov iravrbg lepariKov irapovrog avdpbg. 

4 Compare c. 12. lv' ev&vg 6 dtdKOVog heyy firj ng tuv Karrjxovfiivtjv fii] ng ~<bv 
unpoofievuv yJr) ng tuv uttlgtuv' /j.tj ng tljv eTepo^cov. And Chrysost. Homil. Dc 
Filio prodigo : tCjv fieiag lepovyiag kv ry kKKkrjaty TtepiTpexovTuv nal fiouvnov • [xrj ng 
ruv KaT7)xoviJ,evu)v. 

5 It has been a question whether this prayer belonged to the liturgy of Constanti- 
nople, or to that of Antioch. The earlier -writers were of the former opinion : but 
Neandcr has lately declared himself in favor of thinking that the Homily belongs to 
the time when Chrysostom was still a Presbyter at Antioch. Sec Ids work, Dcr 
hcilige Chrysostomus. &c. Th. i. S. 130. Chryso?tum set a high value on the liturgy 
of Antioch. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK. 449 

prayers will be completely secured. 1 The differences are only incon- 
siderable. In the Homily referred to, Chrysostom lets the Catechumens 
direct their prayer to the angel of peace. Here, probably, by the angel 
of peace, is to be understood the guardian angel of every believer. At 
least, this representation occurs very frequently in Chrysostom ; 2 but it 
is not found in the prayer for the Catechumens in our Constitutions. 
Nevertheless, in respect to this also, an accordance of Chrysostom with 
these Constitutions can be pointed out. The same form which he adduces 
in his Homily on the prayer for the Catechumens, is also contained in the 
Constitutions, only in another place, b. viii. c. 86 ; 3 so that it is possible 
that Chrysostom, who spoke from memory, drew this passage into his 
recital, or even that, besides the prayer for the Catechumens in c. G, 
other parts of the Constitutions were brought in, from which that church 
prayer of Chrysostom arose. Moreover, the two forms differ from each 
other in this respect, namely, that in our Constitutions, in the prayer for 
the Catechumens, the children, before the other worshippers, are to say, 
Lord, have mercy. 41 But this discrepancy, too, is unimportant ; since 
from Basil, 5 and even from Chrysostom, 6 we know that already, in that 
time, boys were used in the public worship. 7 The Constitutions also, in 
c. 6, mention the command that the Catechumens, when they receive the 
Bishop's blessing, are to bow down their heads (Bow down your heads, 



1 Chrysost. Homil. ii. on 2 Cor. p. 516, ed. Francf. It would be too great a digres- 
sion, were we to make extracts here from the whole Homily of Chrysostom, together 
with the whole prayer for the Catechumens in our Constitutions. A very good [Ger- 
man] translation of the prayer in our Constitutions, and of Chrysostom's explanation 
is found in Augusti's Denkwilrdigkeiten, Bd. v. S. 138. 

2 Chrysost. Homil. ii. on 2 Cor. p. 521. Tov uyye?iov r^g elpyvrjc alri/Gare, o'c narr)- 
Xov/ievof elpyvim vfilv nuvra tu. nponeiueva' elp7]viK7jv ttjv napovcav v t uepav ml ttucclc 
tuc iffiepag r?]g &t)Q vfiuv nlrTjaaade. 

3 B. viii. c. 36. 'kvaa-dvreg alrrjacjixeda tu k7£r\ tov nvpiov ml tovc ohnpfiovc, tov 
uyyelov tov km ttjq elprjVTJg. 

4 B. viii. c. 6. 'E<j>' kmoTG) 6e tovtov uv 6 Stumvog Trpoacpovel we izpoenro/iev 2.eyeT0) 
6 2.aoc ■ Kvpce kleriaov, ml Trpo ttcivtuv tu mudia. Although it is true that the Lord, 
have mercy {nvpte kXerjoov) arose from the form of prayer in the Old Testamant. 
CTnSx "•JJn, kMrjaov ^ ° ^edJTj it might still he difficult to point out the liturgical 

use of this form before the middle of the fourth century. The eighth book of our Con- 
stitutions gives the first testimony respecting this use. 

5 Homil. in Famem et siccitatem. 

6 Homil. 72, in Matth. 

7 The Constitutions. Chrysostom, and Basil, are the first that mention this custom. 
Chrysost. Homil. 71 in Matth. p. 624 . . . r\ Tpni] derjacg ira?av vrrep fjfxuv avTtiv ml 
avTt) tu 7rai6ia tov 6t//j.ov Kpo3u)JxTai tov $ebv km kXeov Tvapam?,ovvTa. 

29 



450 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

and receive the blessing, xIivute, Km evloyEiodf). 1 This custom seems 
first to have come into use towards the end of the fourth century ; for 
Chrysostom is the first that refers to it. 2 

There follows, in c. 7, a prayer for the Energumens, or those who are 
possessed by evil spirits. Such is the explanation given by the author 
of the eighth book, near the end of the sixth chapter : Ye Energumens, 
afflicted with unclean spirits, pray (ev^aode, oi tveoyovfievoi vitb 
7tvEV[A.drcov dxadd(jT(ov). And, in c. 12, they are spoken of as 'vexed 
by the adversary' (%ei}ia£o(A8V(ov vub tov dllotoiov). Although, in the 
ancient church, there was established a peculiar office, that of exorcists, 
for the superintendence and instruction of these Energumens, yet it was 
also customary, where circumstances permitted it, to bring them into the 
place of worship, and offer public supplications for their welfare. ' And 
let us all earnestly pray for them,' it is added, near the close of the sixth 
chapter, ' that God, the lover of mankind, will, by Christ, rebuke the 
unclean and wicked spirits, and deliver his supplicants from the domin- 
ion of the adversary.' 

The seventh chapter (for the Energumens, vmq rav EVEQyov[jitv(ov) 
contains an appropriate form of exorcism : ' Thou, who hast bound the 
strong man, and spoiled all that was in his house, who hast given us 
power over serpents and scorpions to tread upon them, and upon all the 
power of the enemy, . . . rebuke these wicked spirits, and deliver the 
works of thy hands from the power of the adverse spirit.' 

We must concede that this form of prayer is not found in Chrys- 
ostom ; but in several passages it cannot fail of being perceived that he 
refers to this as to a public prayer of the church. For the Energumens, 
he says, as for the Penitents, common prayers are made by the priest 
and by themselves ; and all offer one and the same prayer, a prayer full of 
compassion. 3 In another passage it is said, The Deacon therefore brings 
forward the Energumens, and commands them to bow down their heads, 
and, in this posture of the body, to pray ; for, since it is not permitted that 
they pray at the same time with the brethren, he brings them forward, 



1 B. viii. c. 6. And, as they have bowed down their heads, let the Bishop who is 
newly ordained, bless them with this blessing. 

2 Homil. 28. De incomprehensibili Dei natura. Ata tovto ml rovg evepyov/nevovg 
tear' knuvov larrjGt rbv mipbv 6 dcaKovog nal aekevEL n?avcu ttjv nefa^rjv fiovov, ml ru 
oxvi* an Koielodai tov otj/iaroc tuc luerTjpiag. 

3 Chrysost. Horn. 18, on 2 Cor. p. 673, ed. Francf. imlp t&v evepyovfiivuv, vrclp tuv 
hv (leTavoip, Kocval nal Kapa tov wpiwc ml Trap' avruv ylvovrat al evxal, Kal ixavreg (ilav 
teyovoi ei)XV v y ^XV V r *l v tvleov ye/xovaav. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK. 451 

that thou mayest pity them for their calamity. 1 But that there was an 
established prayer for the Energumens, in the liturgy which Chrysostom 
used, is manifest from what he says in another passage : The first prayer, 
when we make supplication for the Energumens, is full of compassion. 2 

All these forms of prayer are brought into a certain connection ; and 
it is probable that, in the arrangement of them, the same order is fol- 
lowed which was observed in the public worship. 

Then, towards the close of the seventh chapter, it is commanded, Let 
the Deacon say, go out, ye Energumens ; and, after they have gone out, 
let him cry aloud, Ye that are about to be illuminated, pray (ev^aade ol 
cp(*}ri'C6[ievoi). Let all of us, the faithful, earnestly pray for them, that 
the Lord may deem them worthy, after being initiated into the death of 
Christ, to rise with him, and become partakers of his kingdom. 3 The 
eighth chapter presents the prayer of the Bishop for the persons about 
to be baptized (iimo twv fia7tn±o[A,8V(ov). In Cyril of Jerusalem, the 
persons about to be illuminated, ol qimxi^o^iEvoi, are distinguished from 
the Catechumens, ol '/.arrj^ovfisvoi, and from the newly illuminated, ol 
VEOCfwriGtoi, and are also called the persons coming to baptism, ol toj 
§a7ttLG[Aan TtooaEoyouEvoi. In the Euchologion, or Ritual of the Greeks, 
p. 195, 196, and 343, the persons about to be illuminated, ol cpcdTi^Oftevoi, 
are called the persons for illumination, ol Ttobg rb (panada, and the 
persons prepared for illumination, ol Ttqbg to (pcoriGfici EvrtQemtofAsvoi. 
In the Latin church, the persons ' about to be illuminated by baptism,' 
illuminandi baptismo, were usually designated as the competentes, per- 
sons seeking (baptism) together. This form of prayer occurs neither in 
Chrysostom, nor in any other writer. The reason of this, perhaps, is, 
that the prayer for those who were about to be baptized, made no essen- 
tial part of the liturgy, that is, no essential part in the customary divine 
service. It is well known that, in the ancient church, there were some 
special times for baptism [the Passover or Easter, and the Pentecost or 



1 Chrysost. Horn. 3. De incomprehensibili Dei natura, torn. i. p. 323. ed. Fr. *uu 
tovto Kal rovg evepyovfisvovg kclt' eneivov larriaiv tov Kaipbv 6 diuKovog, Kal tcehevei k?u- 
vat ttjv KE(j>a?^v fj.6vov, Kal ru oxypaTi iroielcdai tov adfiarog Tag iKETrjplag- evxecdai 
yap avTovg //era tov kolvov ovKkbyov tuv a.6e?i(pC)V ov -&e/ug • di,u tovto avTovg iottjoiv, 
Iva KaTe?^aag avTovg Kal T7jg cv/Mpopag, &c. 

2 Homil. 71, in Matth. p. 768, ed. Fr. r H irpuTij dtijctg eteovg yifiei, orav vrrep tuv 
evepyov/xivuv 7rapaKa?M/xev. 

3 B. viii. c. 7. Kal 6 SiaKOvog XeyiTW 7rpoe?u&eTe ol evepyovfievot,' Kal f/,ET' avTovg 
TrpocfooveiTG) ' ev^ac&e ol (j>uti^6/j,evoi • eKTevCjg ol tuotoI rruvTeg vnep ruv avTuv napaae- 
?\£OG)/j.eV) onug 6 Kvpiog KaTa^Luarj ai)Tovg jivrj-&evTag elg tov tov XptoTov tiavaTov avva- 
vacTTjvai avTu, Kal peroxovg yevic&ai TT/g fiacikeiag avTov. 



452 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

Whitsuntide'], while in the other times of the year, it was, comparatively 
speaking, seldom administered. . . 

In the liturgy of the Greek church, at the present day, a similar form 
of prayer is to be found. 1 

After the candidates for baptism have withdrawn, there is a prayer 
for the Penitents. The various classes of these (such as hear atten- 
tively, such as kneel, and such as prostrate themselves, clxoocopevoi, 
yovvxXivovTeg, and vTtomnxovreg) are sufficiently known. In this place 
they are not distinguished, but all are embraced under the designation, 
The Penitents (ol Iv rff (ji&tavoia). Traces of such a prayer we observe 
also in Chrysostom, although he does not present such a prayer word 
for word. 2 They occur, too, in the canons of the councils ; at Laodicea 
in Phrygia (A.D. 361), can. xix. ; at Nice (A.D. 325), can. xi. ; and at 
Ancyra in Galatia (A.D. 314), can. iv. There follows, in the tenth 
chapter, a ' bidding prayer/ or an exhortation to prayer for the faithful 
(TtQOOcpojvrjGig vrtlq roov marcov), and, in the eleventh, an invocation for 
the faithful (earnhpstg roov tiiotwv). After the Deacon has dismissed the 
Penitents, he is to proclaim, ' Let no one of those who have not a right 
draw near. All we of the faithful, let us bow the knee.' The whole 
prayer seems to be reckoned as a Missa Fidelium [a service for believers 
at their partaking of the Lord's Supper, after the uninitiated part of the ' 
assembly was dismissed]. Still, there is nothing contained in it refer- 
ring to any subject which was kept secret in the presence of those who 
were not fully received. 3 No ancient ecclesiastical writer has handed 
down to us so comprehensive a form of church prayer as the one con- 
tained in these chapters of the eighth book. Chrysostom seems to refer 
to it expressly. 4 He adduces several passages of a prayer which agree, 



1 Encholog. Gr. ed. Jac. Goar. p. 339. AeaTrora, nvpie, 6 debg jjfi&v, 7tpo(7Ka?ieaai 
tov dovlov gov, tov 6e , Tipbc to uyiov gov <pa)Ti(T/j.a • ml Karafioaov qvtov rrjg fieyakrjg 
TavTTjc ^dprroc, T °v u}' i0V o° v i3a7TTio/j.aTog • utcoSvgov avrov rrjv iza?i,ai6rT]Ta, ml avami- 
vioov avrbv elg itjv &7]v ttjv aluviov. 

2 Chrysost. Homil. 71, on Matth. p. 768, ed. Er. Kal ?j devrepa (debate) Ttaliv, VKep 
eTepcov, tuv kv fieravoig, rro?iV to eAeof kirt&Tovoa. 

3 Augusti, in his Demviirdigkeiten, Bd. 5, S. 166, has given a [German] transla- 
tion of this whole prayer, and has added to it, for comparison, some ancient forms of 
the Litania Missalis from the Litnrgia Ambrosiana and from Pamelii Liturgic. torn. iii. 
p. 301, from which the great harmony of this church prayer with the Litanies is 
manifest 

4 Ilomil. ii. De Obscur. Proph. torn. iii. p. 822. Koiv?/ tzuvtsc ukovovtes tov 6iclkovov, 
tovto ntld'OVTog Kal Tieyoi Tog, dsr/dufiev virep tov ukigkottov Kal tov yypus, Kal t?/c uvti- 
/Jyipeuc, Kal Iva t»pi9oTO//7y, ~bv "koyov ryg uhj-ddaQ Kal VTtep tuv unavTaxoi', ob ivapaL~ 
Teicde noielv rd IniTayfia- a/Ad /j.et' kureveiag avatyepeTE ttjv e&xfiv, eldoTec rift ifxeTEpag 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK. 453 

almost word for word, with the form in our Constitutions. Hence Bing- 
ham 1 has proposed the conjecture that the author of the Constitutions 
borrowed this form from the same source from which Chrysostom drew, 
namely, from the liturgy of Antioch. Chrysostom also mentions in 
another place, Horn. viii. on 2 Cor. and Horn. lxi. on Matth. p. 768, that 
the children were permitted to take part in this prayer. 

In other writers, as in Augnstin 2 and in Basil, 3 are found at least 
references to these prayers. The latter includes them under the name 
of ecclesiastical annunciations (njQvyndzwv ty.y.hfiiaGtr/.av). The Invo- 
cation for the Faithful, in c. 1 1, bears among the Latins the name of the 
Collect, since it is, as it were, a collecting and recapitulation of the pre- 
ceding prayers. The prayer is one of the most important. It is offered 
by the Bishop ; and it is introduced by the exhortation in the end of c. 
10, Let us rise up, and let us pray earnestly, and dedicate ourselves and 
one another to the living God, through his Christ. 

In the other books of the Constitutions, the celebration of the Lord's 
Supper is mentioned. See b. ii. c. 27, and b. iii. c. 10. In b. vii. c. 25, 
several liturgical forms are given for the communion. But far more 
important, in respect to this, is the complete liturgy of it, which is 
contained in c. 12, 13, 14, and 15, of our eighth book. It constitutes 
a whole by itself; and probably it was inserted as such. 4 We have 
already remarked that the most ancient liturgies were ascribed to the 
apostle James. The Syrian and other Oriental churches regarded this 
apostle as the author of their liturgy. That the liturgy in the eighth 
book bears his name, might indicate that it was borrowed from one 
which had been derived from him. "We have already stated that, not- 



ovvodov ttjv dvvafuv • laaacv ol {1£[iv7]/j,evoi ru ?iey6fieva • ttj yap evxfi tuv Kanjxovfievuv 
ovdsTzcj tovto £7ciTETpaTTT<u, etxel6tj ovdeTco itpbg ttjv 7cap'p?]GLav e<pdaoav Tavrrjv v/xtv 6e 
Kac vTzhp rf/g o'tKovfiivijg nai vmp rfjg £KK?.7]ciag, r?]g (jL£XP l Trepuruv rrjg yfjg EKTEraftEVTjg 

Mil VTTEp ~CdV dlOLKOVVTOV aVT7]V ETZLGIWTZUV U-aVTGJV 7iapaK£A£V£TCU TTOLtiG&CU Tag de?]0£ig 6 

ravraig dtanovtJv, nal vrraicovETE fi£ru Trpodvfiiag, ipyC) fiapTvpovvTEg, art ftEyu?iJ] ryg Evxvg 
i) 6vvc.[iig TTjg ev £KKh\aia into rob dr/fiov av/xtpuvog avafEpo/iEvrjg kariv. 

1 Orig. vi. p. 236, where also a comparison is given of this prayer with the Lita- 
nies and Fragments of ancient ecclesiastical writers. 

2 Epist. 52, acl Paulin. and Epist. 107. 

3 Epist. 241. 

4 The twelfth chapter bears the superscription, A Constitution of James, the brother 
of John, the son of Zebedee (Siura^cg 'laKuftov tov u6e7^ov 'ludvvov tov ZEpEdaiov), 
and this is the general title for this liturgy of the Lord's Supper. The superscriptions 
of the other chapters form the subdivisions : c. 13, The bidding prayer for the faitbful 
after the divine oblation ; c. 14, The bidding prayer after the participation; c. 15, The 
invocation after the participation. 



454 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

withstanding such a derivation, very much that is later was found in 
these liturgies. In the one before us, the Lord's Supper is treated 
entirely as a mystery ; and the Catechumens, and mere hearers, are as 
carefully shut out as the unbelievers and the heretics. 1 The more 
copious the other forms are, the more simple is the ritual in what, prop- 
erly speaking, is the distribution of the Lord's Supper : And let the 
Bishop give the oblation, saying, The body of Christ ; and let him that 
receiveth, say, Amen. And let the Deacon take the cup ; and when he 
giveth it, let him say, The blood of Christ, the cup of life; and let him 
that drinketh, say, Amen. 2 It may further be remarked, that there are 
three elements of which, in the Constitutions, the Lord's Supper con- 
sists, bread, wine, and water. The last two are to be used as a mixture. 3 
It is still further to be remarked, that the breaking of the bread is clearly 
mentioned. 

Our liturgy of the Lord's Supper is the first Constitution, which is 
brought forward as the appointment of a single apostle. In the subse- 
quent chapters, single Constitutions of the apostles on some one ecclesias- 
tical subject are there brought forward, so that each chapter contains a 
Constitution of some one apostle. By this we see clearly that all is no 
longer coherent, but the parts are loosely connected one with another. 
"We have clear traces where the hand of the compiler has been at work 
to produce coherency, and such a connection as prevails in the first 
seven books ; but this is often very unskilfully done. For although, in 
the beginning of the twelfth chapter, it is said, Further, say I James, 
the brother of John the son of Zebedee, 4 yet the 15th chapter closes the 
liturgy of the Lord's Supper with the words, These Constitutions, con- 
cerning this mystical worship, we the apostles do ordain for you the 
Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. 5 

That this is the most ancient liturgy of the Lord's Supper that has 



1 C. 12. Let none of the Catechumens, let none of the hearers, let none of the un- 
believers, let none of the heterodox, stay here. 

2 It is to be noted that during the Supper the thirty- third Psalm was sung (Ps. 34). 
Besides, the form Sursum corda, sursum mentem, occurs very appropriately in the 
celebration of the Supper. In our passage, c. 12, it is said, Kal 6 upxiepevg- avu tov 
vovv, Kal iruvreg- txoiisv npbe^bv tcvpiov. One of these forms constantly follows the 
other. In the Latin church, the call, Sursum corda, is followed by the response, Ha- 
bemus ad Dominum. These forms were in use as early as in the third century. Cyp- 
rian often mentions them in his work, De Orationc Dominica. 

3 'QoavToc Kal to noTr/piov Kepucac e£ olvov Kal vdaroc, Kal ayiaoac. 

4 <brj(u (5?/ kilju 'Ia/cw/3oc, b ad£?,(pbc 'luavvov tov Ze(3e6aiov. 

5 TavTa irepl tijc fivoTLKf/g laTpdac dcaraaGOficda i/fiecg ol aTzoaroXoi vfuv tolc smoKO- 
notg Kal toic 7vpec(3vTtpotg Kal tolc diaKovotr. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK. 455 

come down to us, has been doubted by no one ; and the great harmony 
of all the oriental and the western liturgies with it, in its essential 
parts, could easily be shown. Very many allusions and references to 
this form are found in Cyril, 1 in Ambrose, 2 in Augustin, 3 and in Jerome. 4 
Still, it cannot be denied that parts of it existed in an earlier time. 5 But 
it cannot be ascertained when this liturgy arose as a whole. 

In the 1 6th chapter, there now follows a Constitution of the apostle 
John, concerning the ordination of Presbyters. The subsequent chapters 
contain Constitutions of single apostles concerning the ordination and 
induction of the lower clergy and servants of the church. 6 All these 
single Constitutions are without coherency. They are only put together 
according to the gradation of the church officers, and have no other 
common bond, than that each separate Constitution bears on itself the 
name of an apostle. Most probably it is a collection of ecclesiastical 
disciplinary regulations, which the compiler found in individual churches, 
in which these regulations were [professedly] derived from some one 
apostle. 

Besides our form concerning the ordination of Presbyters, 7 there is 
found a similar one in Dionysius the Areopagite. 8 Still, they differ a 
little, since our Constitutions mention only the laying on of hands 
(manuum impositio), and prayer. From c. 17 and 18, it is evident 



1 Catech. Mystag. v. § 18. 

2 De Sacram. lib. iv. c. 5. De initiandis, c. 9. 

3 Contr. Faust, lib. xii. c. 10. 

4 Epist. 62, ad Tkeophil. 

5 Thus. Tertullian seems to allude to the form, already adduced by us, which was 
used in the imparting of the Lord's Supper. De Spectac. c. 25. Quale est — ex ore, 
quo Amen in sanctum protuleris, gladiatori testimonium reddere. 

6 C. 16 (The Caption): Concerning the ordination of Deacons, a Constitution of 
Philip. C. 18, an invocation for the ordination of a Deacon. C. 19. Concerning the 
Deaconess, a Constitution of Bartholomew. C. 20. An invocation for the ordination of 
a Deaconess. C. 21. Concerning the Subdeacons, a Constitution of Thomas. C. 22. 
Concerning the Readers, a Constitution of Matthew. C. 23. Concerning the Confes- 
sors, a Constitution of James the son of Alpheus. C. 24. The same Apostle's Con 
stitution concerning Virgins. C. 25. The Constitution of Lebbeus, who was sur- 
namcd Thaddeus, concerning Widows. C. 26. The same apostle concerning the 
Exorcist. C. 27. Simon the Cananite, concerning the number necessary for the ordi- 
nation of a Bishop. 

7 B. viii. c. 16. TlpecfivTepov xuporov&v, d kmono-e, irjv x e ~ l ? a ^l Trjg K€(j>a2.^g kiu- 
rl&ei avrbg, rov TrpeofivTepiov napenribrog ooi kclI tCjv dianovov, ml evxofJ-evog teye. 

8 De Hierarch. Ecclcs. c. 5. 'O lepevg ufiQu rd -node nTdvag cfiTrpoodev rov ■Qe'lov 
-dvotacTripiov, £~l Ke(j>a?i7jc $%ei T7jv upapxtK^v Se^iiiv, nal tovtu tg) rponu npbg rov 
Tz/ioivTog avrbv lepapxov ralg ieponolotg emKlijGeaiv hyiufyrau 



456 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

that the difference between the ordination of a Presbyter and that of a 
Deacon consisted in this, that the ordination of the Deacon could be per- 
formed by the Bishop alone, [in the presence of the Presbyters and 
Deacons, without their vote ; whereas, the ordination of a Presbyter 
could not be performed by him, without • the vote and determination of 
the whole clergy.'] It is to be remarked that, in c. 21, the Constitution 
of Thomas commands that the Bishop consecrate the Subdeacon by the 
laying on of hands. 1 In favor of this custom there is only the testimony 
of our Constitutions. Against it, is that of Basil, 2 who reckons the Sub- 
deacon expressly among those who were consecrated without the impo- 
sition of hands, dxeiQorovriroi. [But we may translate this Greek word, 
not elected (by the extension of hands), and thus let Basil reckon the 
Subdeacons among those who, like the Deacons, could be ordained by the 
Bishop without ' the vote and determination of the whole clergy.'] 

The office of an Exorcist is one of those which arose latest in the 
church. Concerning his induction, c. 26 directs that he is not to be 
ordained ; and this direction proceeds from viewing exorcism as a gift 
(jaQi(j(ia), which can be imparted by the Holy Spirit, but not by an 
external act. [Or, perhaps, we may briefly express, in part, the sense 
of several of the chapters in this connection, thus : — c. 23 : a confessor is 
not appointed to be such ; for he is so by his own choice and patience. 
C. 24 : a virgin is not appointed to be such ; for this is a state of volun- 
tary trial. C. 25 : a widow is not appointed to be such ; but, if she has 
lost her husband a great while, and has lived soberly and unblamably, 
and has taken extraordinary care of her family, as Judith and Anna, 
those women of great reputation, let her be enrolled in the order of 
widows. C. 26: an exorcist is not appointed to be such; for it is a 
trial of voluntary goodness, and of the grace of God, through Christ, by 
the assistance of the Holy Spirit, for he who has received the gift of 
healing is declared by revelation from God. But, if there be need of 
the man for the office of Bishop, or Presbyter, or Deacon, he is appointed 
and ordained accordingly.] It ought here to be remarked, that the suc- 
ceeding chapters, concerning the ordination of Bishops, concerning first 
fruits, and concerning those persons who are to be admitted to baptism, 
contain regulations which manifestly were contained already in the ear- 
lier books of the Constitutions ; and this is done without any regard or 
reference to the earlier regulations ; all which plainly indicates the later 
addition of the eighth book. 3 



1 C. 21. "YttoAlukovov xet-poTOvuv, u eTzlaKOTre, emtiqaeig e?r' avrCo rag X £ tp a £- 

2 Basil. Ep. Canon. 51. 

3 C. 28 (the Caption) : Canons concerning Bishops, Presbyters. Deacons, and the 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK. 457 

Finally, c. 31 gives us a rule concerning what remains of the oblations ; 
directing that certain parts be distributed to the clergy, according to the 
measure of their dignity. 1 Although these remaining parts bear the 
name of the mystical eulogies (ev).oyiai [ivgtmoi), it ought to be re- 
marked that these oblations were not yet consecrated. Socrates men- 
tions this custom, and makes use of the same name. 2 

It is true, indeed, that most of these Constitutions may have arisen 
already in the end of the third century, — some, perhaps, even still 
earlier. We do not deny, rather we call attention to the fact, that ear- 
lier constituent parts are received into all the ancient liturgies- Hence 
it is only asserted that the compilation, the preparing of the eighth book 
as a whole, occurred towards the end of the fourth century; and its 
other constituent parts bear testimony in favor of this assertion. 

The thirty-third is one of those chapters which point to the time 
when the book originated, towards the end of the fourth century. 3 
Here the Christian festivals are mentioned, and, among them, that also of 
the birth of Christ is named, and, indeed, while it is distinguished from 
the festival of Epiphany. In another place it has already been shown 
that this chapter harmonizes with the interpolation, b. v. c. 13 ; and 
at the same time it has been proved that, in the east, Christmas and 
Epiphany were first celebrated, as distinct festivals, about the time of 
Chrysostom. 4 

The thirty-fourth chapter now states distinctly at what hours prayer 
must be offered, and why at these hours, — the third, the sixth, and the 
ninth, at evening, and at cockcrowing. But no writer of the first three 
centuries mentions this custom of a fixed time for prayer ; but Chrysos- 
tom 5 and other writers of the fourth century are the first who mention 



rest of the clergy. C. 29 : On blessing water and oil, a Constitution of Matthias. 
C. 30 : The same apostle's Constitution concerning first-fruits and tithes. C. 32 : Va- 
rious canons of Paul the apostle, concerning those who come to baptism ; whom we 
are to receive, and whom to reject. 

1 C. 31. Tag TrspLcoevovaac ev rolg fxvariKolg ev?i.oyiag, Kara yvuiir/v rov kinoiiOTTOV tj 
ruv npecfivTepuv oi dcanovoi dtave/xETucav t£) nXrjpC) ' tgj emcuoTTG) p,epr] reaaapa, irpea- 
jSurepw fieprj Tpla, ScaKovq) peprj dvb ■ rolg 6e uXkocg, vrcodiatcovoig, tj avayvucraig, tj iba%- 
ratg, tj dtaKOViaaatg fiepog ev. 

2 Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. c. 12. 'Atto ruv enKlrjOLibv ovdev editjaro, ithr/v Kara nvpcanj/v 
6vo uprovg ruv evloyicJv eXaixfiavev. 

3 O'lag rjfiepag del apyelv rovg oUsrag ■ . . . rr)v ruv yevedXtov eoprrjv apyeiruaav, Sid, 
to ev avTrf ttjv aTrpoaSoKrjrov x^P lv dedoadac av&pcjnotg, &c. . . . rrjv ruv emcbaviuv 
eoprr/v apyeirucav. [Here Christmas and Epiphany, it will be perceived, are mentioned 
as distinct festivals.] 

4 See p. 438—. 

5 Chrysost. Homil. 14, in 1 Timoth. p. 501, cd. Fr. 'Klenrpvuv tyuvqae, nal ev&eug 



458 ESSAY ON THE C X STITUTI ON S . 

it, so that, without hesitancy, we can ascribe this Constitution to the 
end of the fourth century, when perhaps it made a part of some oriental 
liturgy. 

From c. 35 to c. 39 there follow, as Constitutions of the apostle James ? 
daily morning and evening prayers. 1 The reading of the evening Psalm 
(Ps. 141), is to precede the bidding prayer for the evening (itQOGtymrfiig 
Imlvinog). The analogy of this Constitution with b. ii. c. 59, we have 
already had under consideration. Some w r ould prove the high antiquity 
of this form of prayer, from the fact that such expressions as before all, 
Ms [Christ's] God and Father (ago tzuvtgjp avrov debg xal TtarrjQ), and (he 
Lord of the Spirit (6 xov Ttvev^iarog y.voiog), occur in them ; since these, 
after the Council of Nice, could not well have been used without giving 
offence. Yet in the preceding investigation we have already shown that 
these and similar expressions, most probably, come from an Arian and 
Macedonian. These morning and evening prayers seem rather to have 
been a part of that liturgy which Chrysostom used. In several passages 
he mentions that the Psalms quoted were daily sung; and, finally, he 
has preserved to us a short form of prayer, which agrees almost word for 
word with the form in our Constitutions. 2 

Finally, the forty-first chapter gives us a prayer for them who have 
fallen asleep (vmQ t&v K8xoffftyp&a9?), for our brethren that are at rest 
in Christ (vmQ dva7tavaa{ih(ov h XQiatcp ddelcfav). Very remarkable 
in this prayer is the passage, Forgive him, if voluntarily or involuntarily 
he hath sinned, and afford him merciful angels (dyyelovg zvfAEveTg itaQ&GTrj- 
cov avtco). Here is expressed a view which our Constitutions have in com- 
mon with many of the church fathers, namely, that in the death of men, 
angels assist the dying ; the angel of peace, the pious ; who soothes their 
souls, leads them to heaven, and conducts them to God. It is exceedingly 
difficult to determine the age of this prayer ; for nothing is contained in 
it that could lead to individual relations of time. There is, however, no 



s/.&dv 6 Trpoeordg nal rd rrodl rbv kei/xevov airXwg vnovvgag, navrag, uvegt/joev ovdh 
yap yvfivovg enel nafievdeiv -&e(xig' elra diavaoravreg ei'deug kcTrjuaoiv, vftvovg udovreg 
TzpotyijTLKOvg fj.£Ta TxoTJiTjg mifMpuviag, fxer' evpvd/iuv ft£?MV . . . evx&C eu&ivug ettlteTie- 
oavreg ml vfivovg npbg ttjv tuv ypacptiv uvayvuciv TpETzovrai' . . . elra Tpfrjjv, ekt/jv, 
kvva,T7]v, ml rug EOKEpivag £i>#ac etuteIovoi. 

1 C. 35 (the Caption) : A Constitution of James the brother of Christ, concerning 
evening prayer. C. 36 : A bidding prayer for the evening. C. 37 : A thanksgiving 
for the evening. C. 38 : A thanksgiving for the morning. C 39 : [A prayer with] 
imposition of hands for the morning. 

9 Chrysost. Comment, in Psalm. Opp. torn. iii. Sec also Athanas. Epist. ad Marcell. 
torn. i. p. 975. De Virgin, p. 1057; Cassian. Institut. lib. iii. c. 3; and Chrysost. 
Ilomil. iii. in Coloss. and Homil. xxxv. in Assension. Dom. 



INVESTIGATION ON THE EIGHTH BOOK. 459 

ground at all to deny its belonging to the age of Chrysostom ; and our 
opinion is corroborated by the consideration that his extended liturgy, 
embracing all parts of the ecclesiastical life, contained also, perhaps, this 
prayer for them who have fallen asleep. It is here to be further re- 
marked, that in the auth >r of the Incomplete Work on Matthew (xxiv. 43), 
is found the same representation of the angel, which we have pointed out 
in this prayer. In the passage cited, he calls him the angel of death 
(angelum mortis). Pearson 1 has proved that this author lived soon after 
the time of the Emperor Theodosius [who died A.D. 395] ; and hence it 
is very possible that the i ention of that angel proceeded from the repre- 
sentation prevalent in the time common to them both. 2 

In the remaining chapters there is found a multitude of precepts, 
whose contents are so general as to render it quite impossible to point 
out the precise time of th< ir origin. They seem, certainly, to have 
originated in an earlier time than the other constituent parts of the book, 
and, most probably, have been added by the compiler of the eighth book, 
for the purpose of concealing the later time of the other parts of his book. 
Here, for example, we reckon c. 45, in which the persecutions are men- 
tioned which the believers endured for the sake of Christ. That this is 
manifestly inconsistent with all the liturgical and ritual arrangements 
which we have considered, scarcely needs to be stated. But in view of 
what we have suggested, we can easily explain the addition of this 
Constitution, as also of the other general precepts in the last chapters. 3 

The forty-second chapter, and the forty-third, contain general consid- 
erations, which are connected with the prayer for them that have fallen 
asleep ; and perhaps it may have proceeded from the compiler himself, 
who treated them in as general a way as possible, in order to conceal his 
time. The Constitution in which the persecution of the Christians is 
presented, was added by the compiler, for the purpose, perhaps, of 
making the eighth book resemble the seven other books of the Constitu- 
tions, in which, as we have seen, the persecutions of the Christians are 
frequently mentioned. Finally, the 46th chapter 4 is added by the com- 



1 In Vindiciis Epistolarum, S. Ignatu, oart i. c. 4. 

2 In Homil. 59, it is said : Si qnis autem auditiones quidem prffliorum, fames et 
tumultus et pcstilentias intelligat esse omnia hscc mala spiritualia, quce facta sunt tem- 
pore Constantini simul et Theodisii usque nunc. 

3 C. 44 : Concerning Drunkards, c. 42 : How and when we ought to celebrate the 
memorials of the faithful departed; n that we ought t'len to give somewhat out of 
their goods to the poor. C. 43 : That memorials or mandates do not at all profit the 
wicked who are dead. 

4 That every one ought to remain in that rank in which he is placed ; and not seize 
for himself those offices which are not intrusted to him. 



460 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

piler, in order to conclude the whole, with a Constitution indicating an 
earlier age, and proceeding alike from all the apostles. By that com- 
parison of manuscripts, which has already been exhibited in this essay, 
it appears that our c. 46 is found in them, as a separate Teaching or 
Instruction (didaaxaMa). The compiler added it to make a general 
conclusion, and, as far as possible, to produce a unity. Nevertheless, it 
is easily perceived that the several precepts in the eighth book are 
wanting in coherency, and in this respect are distinguished, most de- 
cidedly, from the first seven books. 



CHAPTER VII 



ON THE PLAN AND OBJECT OF THE APOSTOLICAL CONSTITUTIONS. 

It is manifest from the nature of the case, that the author of the Con- 
stitutions must have had some plan which he believed it possible to 
accomplish by their preparation. The fact of their being forged, and the 
manner in which it was done, sufficiently indicate that a well-devised 
plan was at the basis of the whole. The form of the work shows this. 
All is put into the mouths of the apostles, who, often in the most far- 
fetched and forced manner, as we have already seen, are introduced as 
speaking. Not seldom the author involuntarily betrays his plan by fre- 
quently repeating, carrying out, and referring to those ideas which 
guided him in the preparation. In many passages, we see immediately 
that he exerted himself to attain his proposed object, and that his 
whole effort is directed to that point. He seems to have suited him- 
self in the prosecution of his plan ; since whatever had not direct refer- 
ence to it, but was necessary for the connection of the whole, he treats 
very briefly ; but, on the contrary, whatever pertained to his favorite 
idea, for the realization of which he undertook the whole forgery, he 
sets forth most copiously, and can never sufficiently inculcate. 

If, now, we cast back a glance upon the preceding examination, and, in 
view of the form and the contents of the Constitutions, endeavor to pre- 
sent more nearly, and determine the plan of the author, I might desig- 
nate as the leading ideas, from which he set out, the idea of the catholic 
church, and the idea of the Levitical priesthood. Both are ideas, which, 



THEIR PLAN AND OBJECT. 461 

in the age to which we have referred the origin of the Constitutions, 
were mighty, and exceedingly prominent, and had found entrance into 
the minds of many who could not distinguish the spiritual from that 
which strikes the senses, the external appearance from the true spiritual 
reality on which it rests. As the proof already brought, for the time 
when the Constitutions were written, speaks in favor of the opinion that 
those ideas lie at the basis of the undertaking, so, in turn, those ideas, 
extending themselves through the whole work, speak in favor of the 
same time. The one consideration supports the other reciprocally ; so 
that the discussion of the plan of the Constitutions may be regarded as a 
supplement to the proof for the time of their origin. 

But in composing the Constitutions, the author was influenced by a 
regard, not so much to a particular system of doctrines, as to a hierar- 
chy. Though the church was torn by doctrinal controversies, though 
many heretical parties had separated themselves from the general 
church, and though even in its bosom there were yet many differences 
which needed adjustment, yet he was not disposed, in his work, to set up 
any standard of doctrine or dogmatical canons ; but this in general was 
far from his plan, though he has given some polemical passages respect- 
ing several heresies. He had the design of establishing the unity of the 
church ; but it was not that higher unity of the invisible church, as 
being a member of which every Christian is conscious to himself; and 
this so much the more, as he has the more deeply received Christianity 
in his own heart, and has been the more vividly penetrated by the one 
spirit which penetrates the community of all genuine believers. It was, 
much rather, the idea of the unity of the visible church, by which he 
was guided in preparing the Constitutions, and which he wished by these 
to call into life. 

In the orthodox catholic or general church there was no standard or 
canon, according to which the whole church discipline, all ceremonies 
and ecclesiastical arrangements, were settled and ordered. Usage was 
almost the only standard according to which the external discipline of 
the church was administered. So much the more was it to be feared, 
that, in the great variety which prevailed on some doctrinal points, even 
in the catholic church, divisions and separations might easily arise, if 
many and great deviations should occur in ecclesiastical discipline. At 
least, it must have appeared thus to those who, confounding the notion of 
the visible and the invisible church, sought deliverance and salvation 
only in the external absolute unity of the church ; since they could not 
elevate themselves to the thought, that, though her external appearance 
present the greatest diversity, yet the internal unity of the kingdom of 



462 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

God (paaileia rov &eov) can very well consist with this external sepa- 
rateness. 

It is not to be denied, that the idea of the catholic church arose early 
and long before the age of our Constitutions, and that it is often men- 
tioned and carried out by earlier writers. But, in its origin, it was quite 
different from what it became in the course of time. 

Hence we take the liberty of going back to the earlier centuries, and 
of showing, in a short sketch, how the idea of the catholic church arose 
generally, and how it was varied and enlarged, through different periods, 
down to the time of the origin of our Constitutions ; so that, by the com- 
parison, it will be evident that the idea of the catholic church was 
formed exactly in the age of the Constitutions, and preeminently in these 
Constitutions themselves. 

We may concede the assertion which is sometimes made, that the 
idea of the church, as of an independent religious community, had its 
origin in Judaism, if, on the other hand, we do not overlook the great 
difference in the two cases. Among the Jews, the notion of the religious 
community was stiff and lifeless. They haughtily considered their 
religious community as one in which none but themselves must partici- 
pate. All other nations must be shut out. How entirely different among 
the Christians ! Their religion was the religion of the love and the re- 
demption of the sinful family of man ; a religion whose joyful message was 
to come to all nations ; which was to unite them all to one kingdom of 
God, when there shall be one Shepherd and one flock. The notion of the 
church is not given dogmatically so much as historically ; that is, it has 
developed itself first historically, and shaped itself differently at different 
times. The church has never been an external unity. There have 
always been separations in it. Even in the apostolic church, the oppo- 
sition between the Jewish and the gentile Christians wellnigh produced 
a schism. At a later period came in the various heresies. But the 
church has always been making efforts to remove difference of doctrine 
or of customs, or of morals, and to restore unity. In the rise of heretical 
parties which threatened to contaminate and disfigure the pure ecclesi- 
astical doctrine, and in the severe external persecutions which impended 
over the Christians, they must have found the strongest incitements to 
connect themselves closely and firmly together. This unity they wielded 
at first, and indeed with effect, in dogmatic contentions, against the 
heretics. 

But in the history of the dogma of the unity of the church, we can 
now trace very distinctly the great difference in making out the concep- 
tion, and perceive, clearly, that this idea, in the first century, was quite 



THEIR PLAN AND OBJECT. 463 

different from what it was in the third. 1 In the days of the apos- 
tolical fathers, it did not include the external unity ; but there was the 
internal harmony of souls, which would preserve the unity of doctrinal 
opinions and the common love of the brethren. Entirely in this sense, 
Clement of Rome expresses himself in his first epistle to the Corinthians, 
c. 46. His manner is as worthy as it is beautiful. Why, says he to the 
Corinthians, to whom he wrote, in the name of his church, to exhort 
them to concord, Why are there strifes, and anger, and divisions, and 
schisms, and wars, among you ? Have we not all one God, and one 
Christ ? Is not one spirit of grace poured out upon us all ? Have we 
not one calling in Christ ? Why then do we rend and tear in pieces the 
members of Christ, and raise seditions against our own body ? and are 
come to such a height of madness as to forget that we are members one 
of another? 2 Thus Clement here presents the one invisible bond 
uniting all believers, as a basis and encouragement to unity and con- 
cord ; and from this we easily see that the idea of the church was to 
him nothing else than the highest and most cordial harmony of souls. 

The Epistles of Ignatius would furnish us very rich materials for the 
history of the dogma of the unity of the church, if we could use them. 
The genuineness of those seven epistles, — of which, while on the way, 
as he was carried a prisoner to Rome, he is said to have written six to 
the churches in Asia Minor, and one to Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, — 
has, it is well known, been denied. And to this view I must accede, 
for the most part. The epistles, it is true, contain much that seems to 
have been appropriate to that early time, but also so much of a different 
kind, appropriate only to a far later time, that, if we are not disposed to 
pronounce them entirely spurious, we are at least compelled to admit 
that they have been greatly corrupted by interpolations. Especially in 
what concerns the dogma of the unity of the church, these epistles bear 
on themselves the character of a much later time. The notion of the 
church is already one entirely external, which is represented by the 
Bishops, to whom we must subject ourselves in all things, as Christ was 
obedient to his Father. See the epistle to the Ephesians, c. 6 ; and the 



1 Schmidt's Versuch ilber den Ursprung der katholischcn Kirclie. Bibliothek filr 
Kritik, Exegese, &c. Mttnscher's Dogmengeschichte, Ed. ii. S. 375 — Miinter's Dog- 
mengeschichte, Bd. ii. Zweite Halfte, S. 125. 

2 Clem. Eom. Epist. i. ad Corinth, c. 46. Tl epetg, nal dv/ioi, nal dcxooTao'ccu, nal 
cx'tofj-ara, 7ro7i.efj.6g ~e kv vfuv ; ?} ovxi Eva fiebv exofiev nal tva Xpiarov ; nal h> txvev\i<i 
TVQ Xupifog to knxvdev kf ijfiag, real fxia tcA/jag kv Xptorti ; tva ti 6leAko[j.ev ical dcaaTrufiev 
tu /xs?j] rov Xpio-ov, nal oraoiuXpiizv ixpoq ro adfia rb idtov, /cat els Toaavrrjv Lubvoiav 
kpXbfLE&a, vote E7TL)<xid£odai Tjfxag on {j.e?,7] eofiEv uAAtjIuv. 



464 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

epistle to the Smyrnians, c. 8. Indeed, it is expressed there, just as in 
our Constitutions, b. ii. c. 26, that the Christians must begin nothing 
without the Bishops, as the Lord did nothing without the Father. See 
the epistle to the Magnesians, c. 7. 1 These, and many other passages, 
make it probable that the epistles come from a later time, perhaps from 
the age of our Constitutions, with which they have much in common. 

Towards the end of the second century, we find the idea of the catholic 
church already coined and put in general circulation. Already the idea 
of the general church was fully acknowledged, and whatever departed 
from this general church was considered as heretical, and excluded. 
Thus Irenceus, one of the writers of that age, seeks to prove and estab- 
lish the principles which he advanced, by asserting that on the whole 
earth, and in the remotest regions, all churches agree in these doctrines. 2 
Even yet, however, with Irenreus, this unity was not at all something 
which arose from an external organization, but it was altogether an inter- 
nal affair. It is true, certainly, that Irenaeus ascribes a precedence to the 
apostolic churches, b. iii. c. 4. § 1. Indeed, it has been believed that in 
the well-known passage, b. iii. c. 3. § 2, 3 he adjudges to the Roman 
church even a kind of primacy and representation of all other churches ; 
but in this passage there is no exhibition of the Roman church as a 
central and representative point of all Christian communities. 4 

But in Tertullian we cannot fail to perceive the great progress which 
the idea of the catholic church made in its improvement or rather in 
its perversion. Tertullian inveighs most vehemently against all heretics, 
and endeavors to make out and maintain the unity of the church every- 
where. 5 He conceives of the church as the body of the Father, of the 



1 Ignatii Epist. ad Magnes. c. 7 (in Cotel. torn. ii. p. 19). "SloTtsp ovv 6 nvpioc avev 
tov ndrpog ovdev eTroirjae, yvufievog uv, ovte di' avrov, ovte diu tuv uttooto/iiov, ovtuc 
/j.tj6e vfielg uvev tov eklckottov kclI tuv TrpEcfivrEpuv findkv irpacaEiE. 

* Contr. Haeres. lib. i. c. 10. § 182. 

3 Irenaeus, Contr. Haeres. lib. 3, c. 3, § 2. According to the old Latin translation, 
since the Greek original is lost : Ad banc ecclesiam propter potiorem principalitatem 
necesse est omnem convenire ecclesiam, hoc est, eos, qui sunt undique fideles, in qua 
semper ab his, qui sunt undique, conservata est ea, quae est ab apostolis, traditio. 
Compare Griesbach's Progr. De potentiore ecclesiaj Romanae Principalitate ad 
Iren. lib. iii. c. 3. Jena 1 , 1779, 4to. 

4 Neander, in his Kirchengeschichtc, cvster Band, erste Abtheil. S. 318, has reccntly 
shown that the word convenire cannot here be understood in the spiritual sense ; and 
that it therefore cannot mean, all churches must agree with the Roman as that which 
has superiority over all; but much rather is it to be understood of the bodily or per- 
sonal coming together. [The remarks of Neander, as enlarged in the new edition, may 
be found in Torrcy's translation, vol. i. p. 204.] 

5 De Pracscript Haeret. c. 20. Omnc genus ad origincm suam censeatur necesse 



THEIR PLAN AND OBJECT. 465 

Son, and of the Holy Spirit ; and as we call God our Father, so must 
the church be called our Mother. Besides, it was Tertullian, who, in 
that well-known comparison, first expressed the principle that out of 
the church there is no salvation. 1 

Similar intimations respecting the unity of the church we find even in 
Clement of Alexandria, which, however, are different in some respects, 
and are held more spiritually, as, in general, the Alexandrian tendency 
differed very much from the North African. 2 

Origen himself, who judges very mildly respecting different views, and 
even concedes that, on account of the diversity of minds, there may also 
be a diversity of opinions, lays it down as a principle, however, that 
we are to hold for truth only that which in no part deviates from the 
ecclesiastical and apostolical tradition. 3 Indeed, in one passage we even 
find the same idea expressed which was promulged in North Africa, 
that there is no salvation out of the church. 4 The nearer we approach 
the age of the Constitutions, the less can we fail to perceive that the 
expressions and the writings of the church fathers harmonize with the 
ideas which are carried out in our Constitutions. And, among them all, 
it is Cyprian who has the most decidedly expressed and maintained the 
idea of the unity of the church ; but with him it was no longer that 
unity which has reference only to the spiritual communion of all be- 
lievers, — only to the internal cordial binding together of all in the one 
Christ ; but it was that unity which has reference to the external form 
of the church, appearing in time. Doubtless, Tertullian, whose writings 
contributed much to give a direction to the mind of Cyprian on doctrinal 
subjects, influenced him also in the conception of this idea ; but Cyprian 
conceived of it in a more external way, and first carried it to its summit. 
Cyprian is of the opinion that Christians should strive, preeminently, to 
produce this external unity of the church, which consists in harmonizing 
with its teachers, that is, with its Bishops. 5 His tendency in respect to 
this is indicated by his well-known expression : He who has not the 
church for his mother, cannot have God for his father. 6 

est. Itaque tot ac rantee ecclesice una est, ilia ab apostolis prima, ex qua ornnes. Sic 
omnes prima?, dum una ; omnes probant unitatem. Compare also De Prescript, c. 35. 

1 De Baptismo, c. 6 et 8. Ecclesia est area figurata, &c. According to the most 
recent investigations of Ncander, in his Antignosticus Geist des Tertullians, both of the 
works quoted were written by Tertullian, most probably still as a member of the cath 
olic church, before he became a Montanist. 

2 Strom, lib. vii. c. 16, p. 890-S96, and lib. vii. c. 17, p. 897-900. ed. Par. 

3 De Principiis, Prooem. Opp. torn. i. p. 47, and Contra Celsum, lib. iii. § 10-13.' Opp. 
torn. i. p. 453 — . 

4 In Jes. Nav. Horn. iii. Opp. torn. ii. p. 404. 
6 Epist. 64 ; Epist. 3 ; and Epist. 4. 

6 De Unitiite Ecclesiae. . . . Extra ecclesiam nulla spes salutis — habere jam non 

30 



466 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

The author of the Constitutions, whose time of being written con- 
nects itself immediately with the age of Cyprian, had conceived the idea 
of the catholic church, altogether in the spirit of Cyprian, yet, if possible, 
still more erroneously. He wished now, in these our Constitutions, to 
set up regulations which embraced the whole ecclesiastical life, and 
which, if they were followed, should realize the idea of the catholic 
church, as it existed in his mind. 

But with this idea there was connected another, also very essential, 
which we can as easily trace through the whole work : It is the idea 
that the whole ecclesiastical Constitution of the Christian community is 
only an improved copy of the Jewish temple-worship, — that this still 
remains the proper type, and that all its essential laws must be trans- 
ferred to the Constitution of the Christian community. At that time, it 
was preeminently the constant custom to compare the ministers of the 
Christian church with the Jewish priesthood, and to transplant the 
arrangements and institutions of this priesthood into the Christian 
church. But here, too, the inmost vital principle of the Christian 
church was misapprehended. It had been Christianity, and only this, 
that overthrew all the external barriers which had separated men from 
God, that removed entirely the separation between a mediating priestly 
caste and the people, and showed to all men, through Christ, the way to 
the Father. One faith, one hope, one spirit, was to unite all to one 
creat community of the children of God ; was to make all citizens of one 
heavenly kingdom, and thus to build up and complete the invisible church 
of Christ, which will never rest on a corporation of priests and on vain 
decrees of a merely external church, but on the living spirit of truth, 
which is gone forth into all the world from him who has said of himself, 
/ am the truth and the life. 

Still, this essential condition of the true Christian church was at that 
time often misapprehended ; and, as this misapprehension of the only true 
principle for the organic life of the church, at length introduced the 
complete domination of priests, so we must perceive what a mighty 
influence, already in that early time, this confounding of the Old and of 
the New Testament theocratic period of history exerted on the forma- 
tion of ecclesiastical life. 

This opinion, that the Jewish priesthood must be analogously adopted 
into Christianity, could only then arise, when men began to depart from 
the unprejudiced, impartial study and interpretation of the Holy Scrip- 



potest Dcum patrcm, qui ccclcsiam. non habet matrcm. . . . Esse martyr non potest, 
qui in ecclesia non est. . . . Quani unitarcm firmitcr tcnere et vindicare debemus, 
maxime cpiscopi, qui in ecclesia prsesideraus, ut Episcopatum quoquc ipsum unum 
atque indivisum probemus. 



THEIR PLAN AND OBJECT. 467 

tures, and to obtrude upon them preconceived views and opinions which 
depended on the temporary interests constantly arising. For the New 
Testament never expresses itself otherwise than polemically against this 
Old Testament view of the priesthood ; and the apostles never apply the 
idea of the Old Testament priesthood, except at the very time when 
they wish to set forth the entire difference between the Old and the New 
Testament priesthood, — when they wish to show that that of the New 
Testament is no such an external and visible affair as that of the Old 
Testament ; that the New dispensation has not, as the Old had, high priests 
who are daily under the necessity of offering sacrifices, first for their 
own sins, and then for the sins of the people ; but one High Priest, who is 
holy, harmless, undefined, Christ, through whom all can approach to the 
Father. It is true, indeed, that, along with the perverted view, the 
idea of the general Christian priesthood continued to be held fast ; but 
still men began to believe that, as, in the Old Testament theocracy, 
every thing was connected with earthly, visible signs and institutions, 
this must be done also in the New Testament economy. Thus as the 
Old Testament priesthood was mediator and representative of the old 
covenant, so, according to this view, a New Testament priesthood was 
to represent the new covenant and the unity of the external church. 

We will now endeavor to show that these ideas are found throughout 
the Constitutions, and can, with much propriety, be called their con- 
stituent element. 

The Constitutions contain regulations and precepts which have refer- 
ence to all the relations of the church and of ecclesiastical life ; and 
they contain very few which have not such a reference. This circum- 
stance, that all these relations are discussed copiously, and even down to 
the smallest ramifications, indicates that the author's object was to set up 
a general standard, as it were a general canon of instruction, for the 
disciplinary and ecclesiastical affairs of Christians. The title of his 
work seems to intimate his design, Constitutions of the Holy Apostles, 
... or Catholic Instruction {Aw.xayai roov dyicov aTtooxolwv . . . ?} 
xadoliXTj didaaxlia). In several other passages of the Constitutions, 
for example, b. vi. c. 14, and c. 18, the same appellation is found 
("AaOohy.ij didaay.alia). It is a catholic doctrine, a general instruc- 
tion, or rule and direction, for the confirmation of those to whom the 
general episcopate, the oversight of the church universal, has been 
intrusted. 

Against the professed object of the author, and against the opinion 
that those ideas above alleged lay at the basis of the Constitutions, it 
might be objected that the manner of representation in the work, — 
the heavy structure of the periods, the tedious tone of admonition which 



468 ESSAY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS. 

prevails in it, and is often interrupted by the multitude of narrations 
and histories out of the Old Testament, as well as out of profane writers ; 
the quotations, too, from the Holy Scriptures, brought in to overflowing, 
and finally, the whole form of the work itself, are not at all suited to 
exhibit a general outline of law for ecclesiastical life and the Constitu- 
tion of the church. But we may concede that the form of the work was 
not altogether suitable to the plan of the author, without its thence fol- 
lowing that this plan itself was not such as has been stated. We miss 
entirely the energy and brevity of the lawgiver, and, on the contrary, we 
find much unnecessary copiousness and loquacity. But this loquacity 
very often serves only to let us perceive the more clearly the design of 
the author ; and, from the incapacity which he shows in the execution of 
his plan is to be explained the badness of the compilation, and from this 
the entire failure of his plan. 

The first book contains precepts which are directed in particular to 
the laity. It is very characteristic that, among all the books of the 
Constitutions, it is the smallest, and appears almost as a mere addition ; 
as if it were thus to be indicated that the laity were only subordinate, 
and it was the Bishops alone who constituted the church. This book is 
occupied mainly with rules for moral conduct, and gives only some few 
precepts respecting discipline. The prohibition, in c. 6, to read heathen 
books, might have been current merely as an ecclesiastical precept. 
Generally, in this book, the plan of the author is kept out of sight; 
which can easily be explained from the fact that, in those general moral 
precepts, no point of connection nor any suitable opportunity presented it- 
self for interweaving also into this book those leading, fundamental ideas. 
On the contrary, the second book forms not only the central point of 
the whole work, but also the central point for these ideas. In this 
especially they are inserted ; and from this, too, the other books have 
.proceeded. 

At first, in a series of chapters, it is shown at considerable length, 
what qualities a Bishop and also the other clergy must possess, in order 
to be worthy of their office. See c. 1, 2, and 3. C. 4 is only an ap- 
parent interruption of the coherency ; and although something hetero- 
geneous might seem to be introduced, as a whole chapter is here in- 
serted concerning the conduct which is to be observed towards widows, 
yet c. 3 and 4 cohere very well together. The Bishop is admonished to 
be generous and benevolent towards widows, but still to know, constantly, 
who is the most worthy of assistance. C. ^ is, therefore, only a digres- 
sion ; for it distinctly sets forth that a female who, though not a widow, 
yet is needy, by reason of sickness, or the bringing up of children, or 
infirmity of her hands, may have a better claim to alms than a widow 



THEIR PLAN AND OBJECT. 469 

who can procure for herself the requisites of life. It is further shown 
that a Bishop must lead a morally pure and blameless life. See c. 5, 6, 
9, 10, 11, 15, 17, and 18. Then the author has specially exerted him- 
self to exhibit the entirely subordinate relation in which the laity stand 
to the Bishops. The whole aim is to exalt the dignity and honor of 
the Bishops above all, and in them to set forth the representatives not 
only of the church but of God. Altogether in this spirit, the author of 
the Constitutions lets the apostles say, ' On this account, therefore, O 
Bishop, endeavor to be pure in thine actions, and to adorn thy place 
and dignity, as sustaining the character or type of God among men, 
in ruling over all men, priests, kings, rulers, fathers, sons, teachers, 
even all alike who are subject to thee.' 1 i Judge, therefore, O Bishop, 
with authority, like God.' 2 Who would not here perceive a develop- 
ment of that hierarchical principle, on which rested, at a later period, 
the whole sovereign power of the priests ? Already no secular authority 
is to avail more ; but the church is to be able to exercise unlimited 
power in the Bishops. This, we admit, was at the time of the rise of the 
Constitutions, only a sketch by a man, who, looking away from the rela- 
tions of the present, and following his own ideas, wished to set up an 
image of the state of the external church, as it was to be, rather than as 
it was. Still, he knows already how to apply that well-known reasoning, 
when he says, * For he that heareth him [the Bishop] heareth Christ, 
and he that rejecteth, him, rejecteth Christ ; and he who doth not re- 
ceive Christ, doth not receive his God and Father.^ Here, as in many 
other passages, altogether in conformity with the principles of the 
hierarchy, the power of the Bishops and clergy is carried back to God, as 
if the Bishops receive it from God, and it is now permitted them to do in 
his name whatever they please. Quite similar notions of the dignity of 
the clergy are found in Cyprian. Indeed, he derives the origin of all 
heresies and schisms from neglecting to hearken to the priest of God, 
and think of one in the church as priest and as judge in the place of 
Christ. 4 Besides, all the precepts of the Constitutions are calculated on 



1 B. ii. c. 11. Atu tovto ovv, enioicoTre, O7rov5a& mtiapbg elvat toIq epyocc, yvopi&cv 
rbv rporrov gov nal rrjv u&av, ug -&eou tvttov lx (jiV EV uvdpuTcocc, rti rcavrtov dpxsiv uv- 
dpuTttov, iepeov, (3acu?Juv, upxbvruv, Tiaripuv, vtCJv, dtdaoKuTicov, nal navruv 6/j.ov tljv 

V-aTJtiOOV. 

2 B. ii. c. 12. Kplve ovv, w fata/cone, jiera k^ovaiag^ wc 6 tiebg. 

3 B. ii. c. 20. 'O yap abrov anovov, Xpcarov aicovei, nal 6 avrbv uderuv, Xpiatbv 
a$£Tel, nal 6 rbv Xpiarbv [irj dexoftevog, ov dexerat rbv abrov ^ebv nal izarepa. 

4 Cypr. Epist. 55. Nam cum scriptum sit : Qui dicerit fratri suo, Faute, &c 
(Matth. 5 : 22,) quo modo possunt ccnsuram Domini ultoris evadere, qui talia inge- 
runt, non solum fratribus, sed ct sacerdotibus, quibus honor tanrus de Dei dignationc 



470 ESSAY ON TEE CONSTITUTIONS. 

the principle that the episcopal dignity stands forth as the highest point 
of authority in the church. All other church offices, however, are also 
represented as worthy of great honor ; but still so that they receive this 
honor first from the episcopal dignity, and that all other clerical persons 
have no power without the Bishop. In b. iii. c. 19, the qualifications of 
a Deacon are set forth, and he is to be ' in all things unspotted as the 
Bishop himself, only more active.' Already, in b. ii. c. 31 and 32, his 
relation to the Bishop is stated, — that he can do nothing at all without 
the Bishop. The relation of the several clerical offices is exactly deter- 
mined, in b. ii. c. 26, 29, 33, and 34. Other regulations, touching the 
distinction between clergy and laity, are given in b. iii. c. 6 and 9, and 
in b. vi. c. 17. How frequently our Constitutions go back to the Old 
Testament, and how very much they keep in view the idea of a Leviti- 
cal priesthood which must be transferred to the church, we have already 
intimated. Striking illustrations of the disposition to which we here 
refer may be found in b. ii. c. 25 and 35 ; where, especially in the first 
passage, the regulations of the Levitical priesthood are exhibited, and 
from them similar regulations are derived for the Christian church. 

It would be a superfluous repetition, were we to introduce again all 
the passages having reference to this subject. They are, for the most 
part, copiously discussed in our preceding investigation. 

As the second book, especially, carries out the ideas which have been 
presented, so we have seen that the five other books impart precepts 
concerning all the relations of ecclesiastical life. As the third and the 
fourth contain rules relative to classes of persons standing in close eccle- 
siastical connection, so the fifth gives precepts concerning the relations 
of the church to them that are without, and concerning other external 
relations, as the festivals and the fasts. The sixth treats of divisions 
and schisms within the church, to which finally the seventh is annexed, 
containing ritual and liturgical regulations. All these, now, are ex- 
hibited with the intention already mentioned, namely, to give a canon 
according to which a common bond was to embrace all churches, and 
thus to realize the idea of the catholic church. Entering into this idea, 
the eighth book was added, at a later period, as a supplement. 



conccditur, ut quisquis saccrdoti ejus ct ad tempus hie judicanti non obtemperaret. 
statim neearetur. . . . Ncquc cnim aliunde hsereses obortre sunt, ant nata suit schis- 
mata quam hide, quod sacerdoti Dei non obtemperatur, nee turns in ecciesia ad 
tempus sacerdos et ad tempus judex vice Christi oogitatur. 



A DISSERTATION, 



HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL, 



ON 



THE CANONS OF THE APOSTLES. 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 



BY THE TRANSLATOR 



It is unnecessary here to speak of the mighty influence which 
these canons have had, or of their importance in shedding light on 
the history of Christendom. In this Dissertation, they are treated 
as a distinct collection. But in the manuscripts, it will be recol- 
lected, they appear as an integral part of a larger work. They 
constitute the concluding chapter (the forty-seventh) of the eighth 
and last book of the Apostolical Constitutions. Moreover, without 
this forty-seventh chapter, that work would terminate, and the 
canons would begin, abruptly. But the last canon presents a 
formal and appropriate close, corresponding well with the introduc- 
tion which opens the first book of the Constitutions. 



DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 



From the time of the Lutheran Reformation, a new and brighter day 
shone on ecclesiastical history, as well as on all the departments of 
theology. For there have been men now mentioned among theolo- 
gians with merited praise, who, when they had received the liberty of 
thinking and speaking, applied the torch, as it were, of criticism to the 
thick darkness of errors, and summoned to a more accurate examina- 
tion various statements, which, although commonly admitted, were yet 
not placed beyond doubt. They felt themselves under special obliga- 
tions to go back to the earlier ages, and inspect carefully the foun- 
dation on which the Romish church had been resting. But the more 
they penetrated into the most interior recesses of ecclesiastical his- 
tory, and explored critically the sources themselves, the better they 
have understood that many things by which the Romish church 
has assumed her authority, and sustained herself for so many ages, 
are nothing else than inventions destitute of all firm and stable foun- 
dation. When those reformers, therefore, applied themselves zeal- 
ously to draw from the fountains of history the means of combating the 
theologians of Rome, it could not but occur that they should not only 
reject many vain and absurd notions, but even refute and annihilate 
them. In breaking the supports of the Papal domination, what immor- 
tal glory they acquired to themselves by proving the falsity of the De- 
cretal Epistles, to say nothing of any thing else, no one needs to be 
informed. 

But among the ancient writings which, in former times, were advanced 
to great power and authority, and which helped to sustain the Popes in 
establishing some of their institutes and decrees, have been also the 
canons, which were circulated in the name of the Holy Apostles. 1 Nor 



1 Kavoveg eKK?,7]ctacnKol ruv avruv uyluv uitoct6?mv. Thus the book in the French 
kings library, 1326, is entitled. In Dionysius Exiguus : Regulce Ecclesiastics 



476 DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 

have there been wanting in the Catholic church those who, against all 
appearance of truth, would venture to palm these canons on the apostles, 
and not hesitate to set them forth as apostolical. Before the Reforma- 
tion, therefore, these canons had great authority, and were even re- 
ceived into the body of the canon law ; nor did Popes omit to quote 
them in settling contests, and in promulgating laws. 

But their authority was shaken and diminished, when the greatest 
distrust was awakened respecting all writings which served to perpetuate 
and sustain the Papal domination. At last, their whole force and influ- 
ence were destroyed, when it was proved by the gravest reasons that 
these canons are not a work of the apostles, and can rightfully be as- 
cribed neither to the apostles nor to Clement of Borne. This became 
the united and harmonious voice of all the intelligent, including even 
theologians of the Catholic church. But respecting the origin of the 
canons there were among theologians various opinions. No one was 
presented that united all suffrages. Though most agreed in deny- 
ing that the canons are of apostolic origin, yet, in forming a judgment 
how they arose, and to what age they are to be adjudged, there was 
much diversity. But at what time they came into existence, where they 
first appeared, who collected them, and why they bear the name of the 
apostles, all will readily perceive to be inquiries of no small impor- 
tance. 

And to me, as I approach this question to be solved, concerning the 
origin of the canons, it seems requisite, that, after narrating as briefly 
as possible the opinions of learned men respecting this matter, and 
examining diligently the testimonies of the ancients, I should institute a 
discussion concerning the number and authority of the canons. Then 
we must proceed to consider whether they have one author, or are a 
collection of separate canons which arose in the early Christian church. 
Finally, if on this point we arrive at any certainty, we must inquire 
whether, by examining the canons themselves more carefully, and taking 
into view external considerations, it may be possible to determine more 
exactly the time in which they arose. 

I. Let us present the most important opinions of the authors who have 
written concerning the canons. 



Sanctorum Apostolorum, prelate per Clemcntem ecclesitc Romanaj pontincem. — 
And in the king's Greek collection of canons, 2430 : Kavoveg 61 leyo/ievoi. tuv uttoo- 
Toluv^diu Kl'iijievTog. But in the Latin Manuscript, 1203: Apostolorimi Canones ? 
qui ] cr Okmentem Romanum pontincem de Grceeo in Latinum, sicut quidam asse- 
runt, dicuntur esse translati, sunt quinquaginta. Compare Cotelerii Patr. Apost. 
Opera, torn. i. p. 442 — ; also C. J. Can. ed. Bolnncr, and C. J. Civ. ed. Gothofred. 



OPINIONS OF AUTHORS. 477 

The well-known Magdeburg centuriators, 1 were the first to assail 
the apostolical authority of the canons, and to prove that the work 
is spurious, and not to be ascribed to the apostles. Turrian, 2 Bin- 
ius, 3 -and others, undertook the defence of the canons, affirming that 
they were made by the apostles themselves. Influenced by zeal for the 
order of things as established around them, they were led into this opin- 
ion, that, by the aid of those ancient regulations, they might, at their 
pleasure, commend and confirm certain ecclesiastical rites and various 
institutes of ecclesiastical discipline. But the attempt was made in vain. 
For, even among the theologians of their own church, this opinion has 
not prevailed. 

But along with others who descended into the arena against those 
Papists, was John Daille, far the most learned man of his age, and one of 
the most acute ; who, in his third book, De PseudepigrapMs Apostolicis, 
entirely overthrew the insane opinion. He put forth his vigorous ef- 
forts to impugn and refute also the opinion of Albaspinaeus, Bishop of 
Baden, who had contended that this ancient collection of canons was 
nothing else than a summary aid abridgment of local councils and of 
matters sanctioned by individual Bishops of the Greek churches before 
the Mcene Council. 4 Then, having exploded the opinions of his adver- 
saries, Daille proposes his own, namely, that this apocryphal collection of 
canons, completed, did not become known before the fifth century, and 
now about the end of the fifth century made its appearance, and began 
to be published. 5 

Among the Catholic theologians, Bellarmin 6 and Baronius 7 admit 
only the first fifty canons to be legitimate ; the rest, which Dionysius 
Exiguus had omitted in his collection, they do not think to be of legal 
authority, although they are received by the Greeks. 

But although Natalis Alexander, 8 Antonius Pagi, 9 Cabassutius, 10 and 

1 Centur. Magdeb. i. lib. ii. c. vii. p. 544 — . 

2 In Tract, pro Canonibus Apostolorum et Decretalibus Epistolis contra Magd. 
lib. i. Elorent. 1572, 1612. 

3 Prsefat. ad Canon. Apost. torn. i. concil. p. 14 ; where he acknowledges all as gen- 
uine and apostolical, except the sixty-fifth canon and the eighty-fourth, which he 
would have expunged. 

4 De Antiq. Eccless. Eitib. lib. i. Obs. 13. 

5 De Pseudepigr. Apost. lib. iii. 

6 De Script. Eccles. p. 40, 41, ed. Colon. 1657. 

7 Annates ad A. 102, n. xii. 

8 Dissert. 17. seculi i. p. 135. 

9 Ad A. C 56, p. 46. 

10 In Notit. Ecclesiast. Eistor. Concil. p. 7 



478 DISSEKTATION ON THE CANONS. 

others, embrace the opinion of Daille, yet many have taken a middle 
course ; who would contend that all those canons are indeed fictitious 
and spurious, but that their origin is very ancient. 

Nearest to Daille comes Peter de Marcia, 1 who, because Firmilianus 
and Cyprian, disputing with Stephen, Bishop of Rome, concerning the 
baptism of heretics, made not the least mention of the canons, conjectures 
that these canons were collected and honored with the name of the apos- 
tles, A.D. 250, and that this was done at a certain council in Iconium. 
For, if the canons had been known before this, it cannot be explained 
why those men did not appeal to them, when, in canon xlvi. xlvii. and 
xl viii., the baptism of heretics is disapproved. I confess that this con- 
jecture seems to me very reasonable. And to this one argument other 
reasons could be added, and other canons called into the discussion. 

But here we must by no means omit to mention that most learned 
man, William Beveridge, 2 who has written concerning the apostolical 
canons with so much acuteness and excellence that his opinion is ap- 
proved by almost all. Although he has not ventured to affirm either that 
they were written by the apostles thetiselves, or that they were dic- 
tated to Clement of Rome as an amanuensis, yet he endeavors to prove 
that they are most ancient canons of the primitive church. That canons 
framed by apostolic men in the end of the second century and the begin- 
ning of the third, everywhere began to be known, nay, that the collector 
both of the Canons and of the Constitutions, was not Clement of Rome, 
but Clement of Alexandria, he has suspected from the last canon. 
There are, indeed, many things in which I rejoice that I agree with 
Beveridge ; but nevertheless, in a subsequent part of this essay, where 
I exhibit my opinion respecting the age of the canons, reasons are 
given why in the main point I dissent from him. Here it will be suf- 
ficient to remark that I cannot dissent from the opinion of the learned 
men who contend that the whole of the last canon was inserted after- 
wards by another hand, and, therefore, that testimony cannot be drawn 
from it for settling the question, respecting the author of the canons. 

We must now come to more recent ecclesiastical historians, most of 
whom, however, may be passed over in silence. For although they, 
and persons occupied with ecclesiastical law, had most frequent occasion 
to refer to the canons, and settle their age by solid arguments, yet most 
of them, I know not by what accident, have been silent on the subject. 
They have seemed to have answered sufficiently the demands of criti- 



1 Petrus de Morca, De Concordia, Sacerdotii et Imperii, lib. iii. c. 2. 

2 Codex Canonum Ecelesiaj Primitive Vindicatas et Illustratus. Lond. 1678. 4to. 



THEIR NUMBER AND AUTHORITY. 479 

cism, if they have not assumed that the canons came from the apostolic 
age, and have made certain conjectures respecting their origin. But, 
amon<* the ecclesiastical writers who flourished towards the close of the 
last century, I must not neglect to commend one, whose opinion I have 
appropriated to my own use, and have set forth more copiously, as it 
was incumbent on me to do. It is Spittler, 1 whose merits in historical 
erudition, connected with theology, are very distinguished ; and who has 
treated concerning the antiquity of the collection of canons, but not 
concerning the antiquity of the particular canons ; and has stated it as 
being fully ascertained, that these canons, in the earlier ages, arose in 
individual churches, which claimed to themselves apostolical origin ; and 
that for this cause, and not because apostles were the authors of the 
canons, any precept of an apostolic church, being conformable to the 
doctrine of the apostles, was honored with the name of an apostolical 
canon. Finally, he thought that the separate canons, everywhere 
scattered in the apostolic churches, were brought into a collection ; but, 
afterwards, were variously modified. 

This opinion has also prevailed among more recent writers on law. 2 
Most of them have judged that the origin of the canons is to be placed 
in the second century and in the third ; and that they, nevertheless, 
contain vestiges, from which it may justly be concluded that they were 
afterwards increased. 

From this brief survey of the judgments which have been pronounced 
respecting the canons, it will sufficiently appear that learned men have 
not all received the same number, but have followed various and con- 
flicting opinions concerning this matter. Hence, 

II. In order to show what has been proposed correctly, and what 
otherwise, I would institute a discussion concerning the number and 
authority of the canons. In this, it is of primary importance to ex- 
amine diligently, and estimate the testimonies of the ancients, that, hav- 
ing surveyed these, we may discover certain common principles, as it 
were, from which, in conjunction with internal evidences, the origin of 
the canons can, with probability, be made to appear. 

It is clear that, among all the ancient authors, John of Antioch was 
the first who mentioned the apostolic canons, and these, the whole eighty- 
five, as belonging to the volume of sacred writings. And the Trullan 
Council, in their second canon, having passed a favorable decree con- 



1 Geschichte des kanonischen Eechts bis auf die Zeiten clcs falschen Isidor. Halle, 
1778. 

2 Compare Walter, in his Lehrbuch des Ivirchenrechts, § 39, S. 96, 3d ed. 



480 DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 

cerning these canons, 1 and afterwards John of Damascus, having re- 
ceived them into the catalogue of Holy Scriptures, 2 very few of the 
Greeks have called in question their apostolic origin and authority. 

The first to be mentioned, who, among the Greeks, has hesitated to 
ascribe the canons to the apostles, seems to be Photius. 3 But the 
Greeks, as they never disputed concerning the number of the canons, 
always retained as sacred the eighty-five. Among the Latins it was 
different. About the year 500, Dionysius Exiguus (who introduced our 
reckoning from the birth of Christ), translated fifty canons from the 
Greek into Latin, and thereby presented them to the Latin church. 4 
And, to this time, it is not known why he did not translate the whole 
eighty-five canons, and give them all to the Christians connected with 
Rome ; whether he happened to have only fifty canons in his perhaps 
mutilated manuscript, or thought he ought to exclude from his version 
the latter thirty-five, as having been added after the collection was 
made. [He may have deemed the fifty-first canon too favorable to the 
marriage of the clergy.] Be that matter as it may, it is certain that 
the Latin church received only the first fifty, and held them sacred. 

Nor has the usage of the church been changed in later times. But 
canons, advanced to greater authority, as having come from the apostles, 
have in many things been made arbiters. And, be it remembered, it 
was in a time when criticism had not yet been applied to ecclesiastical 
history, that no one opposed their claims. In the sixth century, they are 
often brought forward by the Popes to promote the Papal interests. 
Their power and authority increased more and more ; yet no more 
than the fifty came into use. This is easily ascertained from the con- 
troversy of Cardinal Humbert, who, when he contended at all points 
against Nicetas Pectoratus concerning the Sabbath, loudly asserted that 
all the canons, except the fifty, were apocryphal. It appears from many 
passages that Gratian (A.D. 1145) thought the same. 5 



1 "Edofe 6e ml rovro ry dyia ravry ovvodu KoXkiaia nal arcovdaioTara, ticre fievsiv 
Kal utto tov vvv (3e(3aiovc nal aa^akelg . . . rove vwb rtiv irpb %/j.cjv uyiov nal evdo^ov 
(vkoctoXuv bydorjuovra nevre navovac. 

2 Dc Fide Orthod. lib. iv. c. 28. 

3 In his Bibliotheca, Cod. 112; in his Preface to the Nomocanon; and in Mattlwi 
Blastaris Hpodeopia: ov (mtjv uXXu ical tovc Xeyo/ievovc tiov uyiuv uttooto/I&jv, el Kal nvag 
avToi)g afi<pt(36?\.ovc &a rcvag uiriac 7/yrjoavTO. 

4 [In his translation, the numbering of the canons, in a few instances, differs from 
that which is usual among the Greeks ; so that his fiftieth canon (and hence the fiftieth 
of Whiston. and of other editors who have been influenced by the Latin ecclesiastical 
literature), corresponds to the Greek forty-ninth, as presented by Brims.] 

5 Gratian, Distinct. 16,Pr£ef. and Urban II.. apud Gratianum, Dist. 32, c. 6 



EARLY VESTIGES OF THEM. 481 

Having now briefly stated the testimonies concerning the collection of 
the canons, we proceed to consider the origin of each. 

All who have diligently examined the work, must have discovered 
that the canons have not proceeded from one author. The testimonies 
of the ancients, indeed, prove this. For often, in the councils of the 
fourth and of the fifth century, reference is made to most ancient canons, 
to which various names are given. 

III. Let us, therefore, trace those vestiges which may yet be found 
in the early ages, and bring them to light, that the origin of the canons 
may become more manifest. 

The Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451), when, in their twenty-second 
canon, they decreed it unlawful for the clergy, after the death of a Bishop, 
to seize the property which belonged to him, sanctioned as it were and 
fortified their canon by adding, as also it is interdicted in the ancient 
canons (xadibg xai jolg n&lui xuvouiv dt,7i-qy6()F urai). But observe how 
wonderful it is, if we inspect the matter more thoroughly. Let us look 
around, and examine whether there is any such prohibition in the canons 
of former councils. We find no canon, except our fortieth apostolical 
canon, which expressly orders that the property of the Bishop be not 
lost, nor cease to be at his disposal, but that he have the power of leav- 
ing it to whomsoever he may please. 1 In view of these facts, who can 
doubt that the Council of Chalcedon, in the words quoted, pointed to our 
canons ? In passing, let us here remark, that ancient regulations were 
first cited, under the name of Apostolical Canons, in the Council of 
Constantinople, A.D. 394. (See Zonaras, p. 527, and Balsamon, p. 
763. 2 ) At that council, there were present, besides many other Bishops, 
Theophilus of Alexandria, Flavius of Antioch, Gregory of Nyssa, and 
Theodorus of Mopsuestia, — men of great eminence. No one will deny 
that the regulation presented in our canon lxvi. [otherwise numbered 
L xxiii. and lxxiv.] is similar to the one which we have inserted at 
the bottom of the page as having been decreed by that council. 3 



1 Can. xl. "Egtu Qavepa tu idia tov etuokottov npuyfiaTa, elys Kai idea exn, Kai 
<pavepu tu KVpLma, lv' e^ovciav exv r & v l^iuv teTievtuv 6 kmoKOTrog, olg fiovTierai nal uc 
(3ov?i£Tai KaTaXeirpai, mi (ir) Ttpotyaoei tuv m:(ki)GLacniKun> Trpay(xuTuv diaTrlirreLv tu tov 

kltLOKOTTOV. 

2 M^ XP'/ vaL n Pv? ro &&?£ {*y re ^ a P u Tpcuv, (iij tl ye -napu 6vb tov virevdwov doKifia^b- 
fiEVov nadaipeZo&aL, uTJia yup nleiovog ovvbbov ijji)0(o nal tCjv Ti)g eirapxiac, na$dg ical ol 
unOCToltKol navoveg diopioavTO. 

3 Can. lxvi. 'Etcigkottov KaTrjyoprjdivTahm Tiva napa. u^lottlgtuv nal tuct&v Tzpoau- 
nuv, K.a?\.eiodai avTbv avaynaiov vtto tuv e-iOKorrov • k\iv fiev unavTija?] Kai b(io7,oyi]ori fj 
eTieyx&ei-V, bp^iadat to h-KiTi(iiov • el 6e Ka7iov(ievoq (ir) vnaKOvooi, Ka?i,eic$a) Kai devTepov. 
uTToaTe7i?.o/j.evuv en' avTov 6vo eiuoKOTrwv lav 6s Kai ovtu KaTafpovijoag [xtj airavT^CF^, r/ 
Gvvodog u-nO<j>atvec>$u> KaT' avTov tu doKovvia, bnug (ii) 6b^rf Kepdaiveiv (pvyodiKuv, 

31 



482 DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 

It should be further remarked, that the fathers in this general council, 
A.D. 381, sent epistles to Damasus, Ambrose, and other Bishops then 
assembled at Rome, in which, from an ancient canon (Ilalodog ts &g I'gts 
dsa/ubg xexQUTrjxe, y.al t&v dylojv £v Ntxaia none guv o^os), they contended 
it ought to be established, that Bishops, in their own parishes, and there 
only, with the assistance, if they think proper, of other neighboring 
Bishops, should give ordination to those who become clerical persons. 
Nor is there any law more ancient than the Nicene Council, except 
canons xiv. and xv., which forbid a Bishop's leaving his own parish, and 
pervading that of another, unless a reasonable cause constrain him. 1 

And about that time Evagrius occupied the episcopal chair at Anti- 
och, having been ordained by no one except his predecessor Paulinus ; 
which Theodoret, in his ecclesiastical history, b. v. c. 23, affirms to have 
been done contrary to the ecclesiastical law (nagu xhv hy.y.l^aiuarncov 
deufibv)^ nay, contrary to many canons (naga. nollovg xavovag). But, 
manifestly, his affirmation is in harmony with the canon which expressly 
enjoins, Let a Bishop be ordained by two Bishops or by three (' Enlcrxonog 
/EigowvEiado) tinb hrau-Aonrnv dvo r\ Tgi&v). May we not reasonably infer 
that Theodoret had in his mind our first canon, from which he judged the 
ordination of Evagrius to be unlawful ? But, if we thoroughly examine 
the other canons, the seventy-sixth presents itself to us, which estab- 
lishes in almost so many words the judgment of Theodoret: A Bishop 
must not gratify his brother, or his son, or any other kinsman, with the 
episcopal dignity, or ordain whom he pleases. . . . But, if any one shall 
do so, let the ordination be invalid. 2 Most clearly, if we do not greatly 
err, Theodoret had this canon also in his mind. 

If now we go back to the earlier time of the Christian church, we 
find such vestiges of the canons that it will appear that they were even 
then known. Nor will any one deny that most probably the Nicene 



1 We here insert the two canons entire, to avoid the necessity of repetition here- 
after. — Can. xiv. '"EmonoiTov (j.tj kf-elvat KarTiei^avra ttjv kavrov napouiiav krepa etzikij- 
dav, mv vivb irleiovuv avaymfyrai, el fj,y rig svTioyog atria rj rovro (3ia£ofi£vii avrbv rtoisiv, 
cjg rikiov tl nkpdog dvvafikvov avrov rolg ekeZce Aoycj evGEfteiag cv{ij3a7Jieo"Qai' ml rovro 
6e ova a.(j)' kavrov, aTJia, Kpiosi rcoTiltiv eklgkottuv ml Tvapanlrjaei fieyla~7j. Can. xv. F/c 
rcg npeofivrepog 7/ diaaovog r) oXtog rov naraloyov ruv /cfajpiicuv arro?*eiil>ag rf/v kavrov 
irapoiiciav eig krkpav uTtkldr], ml navreTitig /neraorag 6tarpi(3y kv aXhj irapouda irapu. 
yvu/xrjv rov idiov etzigkottov • rovrov Kehevofiev y,r)K.eri XctrovpyeZv, [luXcara d npoomlov- 
ftevov avrbv rov etuoho-kov avrov k-KaveTidelv ovx vnqKovoev kmfikvtov r?j ura^ia- £>g 
7idiK.bg fitvroi eneloe Kotvuvsiru. 

2 "On ov XPV InicKonov ru adeldC) y vuj y krkpo) ovyyevec xo.pi£6fj.evov rb a^iujxa rrjg 

kmomnrig, x eL 9 070V dv ovg avrog fiovlerat • ei 6s rig rovro xotrjoet, utcvpog f/£viru 

i] xupTOvia. . . . 



EARLY VESTIGES OF THEM. 483 

Council not only had regard to these canons, but also confirmed and 
more amply described them. We shall not deny that the canons were 
in use before this council. 

Thus Alexander, Bishop of Alexandria, when, in an epistle to 
Alexander, Bishop of Constantinople, he mentions it as scandalous in 
many Bishops that they received into the communion of the church 
several persons excommunicated by himself, sustains his opinion by 
these words, t<3 //rjre uTtoaiohytup xardva tovio avyxtooEtp. 1 Who, in- 
deed, is there whom it can escape, that canons xn. and xin. are opposed 
to this abuse ? 2 And by this epistle, as it was written before the Nicene 
Council, it is necessarily shown even that the whole council were ac- 
quainted with these canons. 

The Nicene fathers, when they had in mind to propose and sanc- 
tion certain canons concerning eunuchs, referred to earlier canons, in 
which, they said, the same precepts were contained. Now our canons 
exhibit to us certain precepts concerning eunuchs ; 3 so that it can be 
affirmed, without any doubtfulness, that the Nicene Fathers had regard 
to these. For, if this be not admitted, where can be found any other 
canons which establish the same rules concerning eunuchs ? Wherever 
we may search, we find nowhere any thing similar, except in our 
canons. 

But there is another argument, which confirms our conjecture. The 
sixty-second apostolical canon 4 expressly commands that a clerical 
person be deposed, if he deny his clerical character through fear of a 
Jew, or of a gentile, or of a heretic ; but it gives no direction what shall 
be done to him who, before being ordained, may have denied Christ. 
Now the Nicene fathers assign to such a man the same punishment that 
is assigned in our apostolical canon. 

And it is evident that our canons, under various names indeed, were 
known also to other councils. Thus I would not deny that the Council 
at Antioch (A.D. 341) allude to our canons when they mention dea/uovg 



1 Theodoret. Hist. Eccles. lib. i. c. 3. 

2 Can. xin. El nig Klrjpinbg ?/ la'inog atyupicfievog f/roi ads/croc, ane?iddv ev erepa 
7:67x1 6ex&y avev ypaufxarov ovararuitiv aQopi&cd-G) nal 6 6e£a/xevog nal 6 6ex&elg. 

3 Can. xxi. Evvovxog el fiev e£ eirrjpeiag av&pu7ruv eyevero rig, rj ev dcoy/iti a<pr)pe3r) 
ra avdptiv, y ovrug e<bv, nal eanv atjiog, emaicoTVog yiveo&u. — Can. xxn. r O aKpurrjpia- 
aag eavrov, firj yiveodo icfa]piKog • avro^ovevrrjg yap eanv eavrov nal rfjg rov {)eov drjfu- 
ovpylag ex&pbg. Can. xxiii. El rig K?t7]ptKog bv eavrov anporripiaoei, Ka&aipeic&w, 
<j>ovevT7]g yap eanv eavrov. 

4 El rig Klrjpinbg 6iu 6o3ov uvdpumvov 'lovdaiov f/ "Ellrjvog ri tapertnov apvTjarjrai, el 
fj.lv ovojia Xpiarov, aTTopa/Jic&u, el 61 nal rb bvoiia rov K?.7jpiK0v, Kadaipeio-&ti' [xera- 
vorjaag 6e, ug 1aiK.bg 6ex$qT0). 



484 DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 

exxhjcriuaTixovg xal 6>o/ui6tsqop xqcnr^aavra, ex naregow ^uwp y.avdva. 
Nor may we at all conjecture that the author of our canons reduced his 
canons, as being spurious and fictitious, into harmony with the canons of 
the Council at Antioch, when the fathers of the council affirm them to 
be xaiu xbv ag/alop xavova. 

But let us produce another testimony, which is extant, concerning the 
canons. For I hold it to be certain that our canons were known to 
Athanasius. He refers to them for the purpose of proving that his 
being deposed, which the Arians had effected, was unlawful. He in- 
forms us that he was removed from his ecclesiastical office, without 
being summoned to trial before a council of Bishops, and without being 
convicted by his opponents, but being accused by Arians, his enemies, 
unworthy of confidence. All which, he contends, was done contrary to 
a constant and abiding canon of the church. This compels us to think 
that Athanasius had in view our canon lxxiv., 1 which directs that a 
Bishop be summoned to trial by Bishops, and, if he meet them, and be 
convicted, that he be punished by the council. 

This opinion is confirmed by the fact that Athanasius has often quoted 
ecclesiastical canons in such a manner that it is obvious they accord with 
those of which we are treating. 

But let us bring into discussion those passages which are extant in 
Eusebius, concerning our canons. Eusebius, called by the suffrages of 
the clergy, and of the people, to the office of Bishop at Antioch, declined 
this dignity, because he thought that his acceptance of it would be con- 
trary to an apostolical canon (anovioliv.ov v.avbva). In his Life of Con- 
stantine, b. iii. c. 61, he presents us an epistle of the emperor, in which 
he very much commends Eusebius for this ; and affirms to him that he 
now understands that Eusebius had rightly observed the ecclesiastical 
canon, and had acted in accordance with apostolic tradition. 2 It will 
now appear to be placed beyond a doubt, that both Eusebius and Con- 
stantine referred to our canon xiv. 8 

It remains that we inspect and weigh the testimonies of the Latin 
church. We have already mentioned that at first the Latin church 



1 'Ettigkottov mrr\yopi]§Lvra em nvi irapu u^iottlotuv uvtipuTtuv, Kakela&ai avrbv 
hvaymlov vnb ruv ettigkOkiov • nqv pxv uTravrrjcrj ml 6/j.oloyf/cri ?) eXeyxde't-7}, bpi&o&ai 
to knmfiiov. . . . 

2 Euseb. Vita Constant, lib. iii. c. 61. . . . Tbv mvbva 77/f kKKT^rjaLaarua^ tmorfifiijc 
-:i; uKpifieLav <pvlax$Evra . . . Z/ifieveZv yovv rovroig urcep apeara re ra> Veto ■ ml tt? 
uiroaToXucy rcapaboaei. m'/i&ova <j>aiverai, evayeg. 

3 'EmoKOmow fiy kf-elvttt KaTtttetyavra rr/v kavrov irapoudav, kreptf, t-i-)]fiav, kcTv vnb 
tc?-movov upaynu^/rni.. 1 ' >-'/ rir ev'Koyor atria >/ rovro (iia^ofxtvi) avrbv tcoceiv. . . . 



EARLY VESTIGES OF THEM. 485 

knew nothing at all of the canons ; but that afterwards she attributed 
great power and authority to a part of them. The first who, in the 
Roman church, has made mention of them, is Julius, Bishop of Rome, 
who referred to these canons, when, in an epistle to the Oriental Bish- 
ops, he reproached them with certain things connected with the deposing 
of Athanasius. From this, however, we cannot conclude that the can- 
ons were then of force in the Western church. For, probably, Athana- 
sius had informed Julius concerning this canon ; and urged upon him 
that, relying on this canon, which the Oriental church had acknowledged, 
he might demonstrate to the Greek Bishops that their proceeding had 
been unlawful. 

At length, the decree of Gelasius ascribed our canons to the class of 
apocryphal books. Concerning this decree, there have been the most 
diverse opinions. Indeed, some have gone so far as to contend that no 
council was ever held at Rome, A.D. 494, by the Bishop Gelasius. 1 
Others think it altogether uncertain whether this decree was ever put 
forth by Gelasius, since no one mentions it till three hundred years 
afterwards. But others (we need mention only Beveridge 2 ) are of the 
opinion that, even if Gelasius issued a decree concerning books to be 
received and to be rejected, it is, nevertheless, uncertain whether those 
words, the apocryphal book of the canons of the Apostles (liber canonum 
Apostolorum apocryphus) proceeded from Gelasius himself. This 
opinion becomes probable, when we consider that, in the manuscript of 
Justell, and in other manuscripts, these words are manifestly wanting. 
Besides, Hincmar, Bishop of Rheims, contends that the canons of the 
apostles are not recounted by Gelasius in this decree. However this 
may be, we understand sufficiently, from Isidore, of Seville, 3 that the 
Latin church rejected them entirely, and ascribed to them not even the 
least authority. This being made clear, we easily see why these canons 
have been excluded from later collections of canons ; as has been done 
by Martin of Braga, 4 by Ferrand, Deacon of Carthage, 5 and by others. 
At last, by the pseudo-Isidore, they were given out to be truly apostoli- 
cal canons; and, therefore, they were received into the canonical Law. 



1 Jo. Pearson, in his Vindicias Epistolarum Ignatii, p. i. c. 4. 

2 Beveridge, Codex Canonum Ecclesiae Primitivae Vindicates, lib. i c. ix. § 3. 

3 Isidor. Hisp. Ap. Auton. Augustin. lib. i. de emendat. Gratiani Dial. vi. Gratiani 
Digest xvi. c. 1. Canones qui dicuntur Apostolorum, sed quia nee sedes apostolica 
eos recepit, nee S. S. Patres illis assensum preebuerunt, pro eo, quod ab haereticis sub 
nomine apostolorum compositi dignoscantur, quamvis in iis utilia inveniantur. 

4 Compare Du Pin, Nov. Bibl. Auct. Eccless. torn. i. p. 23. 

5 Breviatio Canonum. Comp. Justelli Bibl. Juris. Can. Vet. torn. i. p. 419 — . 



486 DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 

But although in the seventh century, and in later centuries also, they 
were called in question, yet at length they claimed for themselves eccle- 
siastical authority and power. 

But it is now sufficiently evident that the canons of the apostles did 
not derive their origin from the apostles themselves, and that not from 
this but from some other cause, they were honored with the name of the 
apostles. In this our age, men have indulged their ingenuity and their 
imagination ; and the more novel their conjectures, the more gratifying 
they have been to many. But, in proposing and amplifying my conjec- 
ture, I refer to Spittler, who, if there is need, can give it support. 1 

From our survey of the testimonies of the ancients, it seems evident 
that, in the early church, single canons were circulated under the name 
of ancient canons, apostolical canons, ecclesiastical regulations, and 
ancient law (n&lai xavoveg, dnoajolixol xavovsg, ixxlijcriaoTixol dsa/uol, 
tiuIuloq fduog). Each of these canons, although made and sanctioned 
by later persons, has been ascribed to the aposfcles, if it has seemed to 
accord with their doctrine. These canons, therefore, were called apos- 
tolical, not [at first] from any supposed apostolical authorship, but from 
the nature of the doctrine inculcated in them. There were, in the early 
ages, many churches or parishes to which there were ascribed, as it 
were, a preeminence and a superior authority, because they derived 
their origin from apostles ; whence there was given to them the name of 
apostolical churches. 

After having diligently examined all the testimonies, I would now, 
without any hesitancy, contend that the canons arose, one after another, 
in single churches of the first centuries, until, instead of being dispersed 
here and there, they were brought into one collection. 

IV. Let us now see at what time each of the canons first appeared. 
To guard against transgressing the proposed limits of this Dissertation, it 
will doubtless be best to place together several canons, and exhibit our 
judgment concerning them. 

As to the first two canons, they order expressly that a Bishop be 
ordained by two or three Bishops ; but a Presbyter, a Deacon, and any 
other clerical person, by one Bishop. 2 But how alien this rule is from 
the apostolic times ! This we sufficiently perceive from the terms 
employed. For who does not know that, in the apostolic age, there was 
no distinction between Presbyter and Bishop? And since, in our 



1 See Spittler's Geschichte des kanonisclien Rechts, p. 12. 

2 Can. i. 'ETcicKOTroc x^po^ovecad-co virb zttlgkottuv 6vo i) rpuov, and Can. II. Ilpecr- 
\3vrepog v(f>' evbg kTUOKonov xzt-poTove'ur&o, ml dianovog not oi Iolttol K?i7]piicoi. 



WHEN EACH ORIGINATED. 487 

canons, a Bishop and a Presbyter are distinguished in authority, in 
office, and even in rank, it is evident that this distinction is most unsuit- 
able to the apostolic age, in which these names were used promiscu- 
ously. To what age do we assign these canons ? Certainly to one in 
which there was a distinction between the words Bishop and Presbyter, 
and a new signification had come into use. Besides, we find an indica- 
tion of the time of their origin, in the mention of the other clerical per- 
sons (ol loiuol xlriqixoi). So far as I can judge, it is right to conclude 
that these canons were framed at that time, when the inferior clerical 
orders in the church were constituted. Now, since Tertullian, in his 
work, De Prasscriptione Hsereticorum, c. 41, mentions the inferior 
orders, and is the first ecclesiastical writer that has mentioned them, it 
follows that these canons are to be adjudged to the concluding part of 
the second century. 

In canons m. iv. and v. certain regulations are presented, in respect 
to the first-fruits which were to be offered. As it is self-evident that the 
origin of these was not apostolical, I forbear to enlarge on the subject. 
But no one who has carefully considered the matter, will deny that 
these canons pertain to the Mosaic law, in the abrogation of which all, in 
the apostolic age, were agreed. This ancient observance of the Jewish 
church, towards the close of the third century, when Bishops arrogated 
to themselves increased authority, prevailed so much, that fruits were not 
only offered by the faithful, but were distributed by the Bishops to all 
others who were needy. Of this, Origen is a most substantial witness, 
from whose testimony it is abundantly evident that the custom of offer- 
ing first-fruits was already in his time exceedingly common. 1 

The sixth canon, a most dangerous rock to the Roman church, exhib- 
its the regulation, that no Bishop, Presbyter, or Deacon, put away his 
wife under pretext of religion ; and the seventh inculcates that no one 
of the clergy undertake secular cares. 2 Each of these canons is so con- 
sentaneous with the apostolic age, that nothing hinders our supposing it 
to be sanctioned by apostolic men. The subject of the sixth canon suffi- 
ciently explains why, in the Western church, where celibacy was held in 



1 Origen contra Celsum, lib. viii. p. 400, ed. Cantabrig. Keloog [isv daifiovLocg ava- 
Tititvai jiovXerai • rjfislg 6s rib elnovn, (3?iaGT7)Garo) i] yij (SoTavrjv xoprov . . . <p de rug 
cnrapxug intodldofLsv, tovtu koX rag Evxug avaTrifiTrofiev, sxovrsg apxispsa ftsyav, dieTirjlv- 
■&6ra rovg ovpavovg, 'Itjgovv, rbv vibv rov dsov. 

2 Can. vi. 'EnioKoiTog i) 7Tpeai3vrepog tj dMKOvog rrjv savrov yvvalKa [irj kKfiaTJksru 
TtpoqaGEL EV?.aj3eiag ■ kav 61 EKfiaKkq afyopL^EG-do ■ ETUfisvov 6s, KaftatpEiotiu. Can. vn. 
'ETTtoKOTTog 7j lipeGjSvrspog fj 6ianovog KOGfuwg <j>povrc6ag fiTj ava?iafj,i3av£TG) ■ d 6s (irj, 
KadacpECGda). 



488 DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 

great honor, our canons, of which those just now quoted are unfavorable 
to celibacy, were received so tardily. 

Then in the eighth canon it is forbidden that any Bishop, or Presby- 
ter, or Deacon, celebrate the sacred day of the Passover [Easter] before 
the vernal equinox, with the Jews, under penalty of being deposed. 1 
But it will not appear wonderful to any one, that I most confidently 
adjudge this canon to the end of the second century, if I present briefly 
the reasons of this judgment. What ! Is any canon sanctioned, unless 
there be some cause requiring its promulgation ? No, most certainly. 
Now let us inspect the canon. From what cause was it possible to 
decree that the Passover be not kept before the vernal equinox with the 
Jews ? Doubtless from the cause that, at the time of passing the de- 
cree, there had arisen many and vehement contentions respecting the 
day on which the Passover was to be celebrated. The canon, therefore, 
fits precisely the end of the second century, when this question was most 
vehemently agitated between Victor, Bishop of Rome, and Polycrates, 
Bishop of Smyrna. 

The next two canons (ix. and x.) treat concerning the holy com- 
munion, to be received by all the faithful, both clergy and laity, when- 
ever they enter the church. 2 It is with good reason that Beveridge 
refutes the opinion of Daille, who, because adherents of the Roman 
church leave the place of worship without partaking of the host, and 
thus she does not observe those canons, confidently infers that she. did 
not acknowledge their apostolic origin. But what to us is the Roman 
church ? It belongs to herself to see why she follows another fashion. 
Her usage and custom can bring nothing against the antiquity of our 
canons. So far are these canons from being at variance with the 
observances of the second century, that they fit them exactly. Let us 
consult the fathers of that century. Justin Martyr at once presents 
himself, and can vouch for the correctness of our statement. In his 
Apology, when he describes the eucharist to Antoninus Pius, he says 
expressly of the Christians, that they all assembled on Sunday, and 
listened to the reading of the sacred Scriptures, and to an address from 



1 Can. viii. EZ rig ImaaoTVog r) TrpeoftvTepog r) dcaKOvog ttjv hyiav rov rraaxa vfiipav 
rrpb rr/g iaptvr/g lorifiepiag fieru 'lovdaiuv emTeteoei, K.a-&aipccrdu. 

2 Can. IX. E? rig kmoKOKog r) Trpecfivrepog f) dtanovog r) c/c rov naro'koyov rov hpan- 
kov Ttpootyopag ysvofiivrig fir) fj.erala[3oi,, ttjv alriav elnaru • ical euv evT^oyog fy, avyyvufirjs 
Tvyxaverw el 61 fir) ?i£yei, tMpopi&otiu, d>g air Log (3ha{3r/g yevopevog ru /law ical virovotav 
TTOi7]oag Kara rov rrpooEveyicavTog. Can. x. Uavrag rovg elocovrag Tuorovg ical riov ypaQcbv 
anovovrag, fir) napafievovrag 6e ry npoaevxy tal ry ayia ficralTjipei, tog arai~iav ifinocovvrag 
ry EKKkriaia, atyopi&oVcu XPV' 



WHEN EACH ORIGINATED. 489 

the Bishop. Then all arose together to pray ; and, when prayers were 
ended, there was an offering of bread and wine. The Bishop gave 
thanks. The people responded, Amen. Distribution was made ; and 
each partook. 1 It is obvious, therefore, that, in this century, the Euchar- 
ist was celebrated by all Christians, as often as they came together. It 
is not, then, alien from the observances of the second century, if our 
canons threaten excommunication to clerical and lay persons, who do not 
partake of the communion when an offering is made. 

In the next two canons (xi. and xn.) there is nothing to prevent their 
being adjudged to the apostolic age. That they who are guilty of a 
want of rectitude or of truth, be kept from the communion, agrees most 
fully with the first times of the Christian church. 

To the thirteenth canon, another time must be assigned. Here com- 
mendatory letters are mentioned. The ecclesiastical custom of giving 
such letters to those who were sent from another vicinity, arose in the 
third century, when, in the time of persecutions, the several churches 
were obliged to use the utmost caution, lest they should receive a secret 
heathen or heretic ; [or rather, the custom which very naturally began 
in the time of the apostles, then became specially important.] 

Concerning canons xiv. and xv. we have already treated, and shown 
that regard was had to these canons in subsequent times. It remains 
that here we remark, in passing, that canons xiv. xv. and xvi. contain 
nothing which departs from the apostolic age ; and, therefore, although 
perhaps they were framed at a later time, we cannot deny that they 
may have belonged to the apostolic period, if we judge merely from the 
subjects of which they treat. [But surely the author would not con- 
tend that, in the time of the apostles, such absolute control over Pres- 
byters was given to a Bishop, as is assumed in canon xv. nor that the 
inferior orders swelling ' the catalogue of clerical persons,' had already 
been introduced.] 

Let us now proceed to the following canons, namely, xvu. xvni. xix. 
and xx., concerning which the same judgment is to be pronounced. 
Nothing can be found in them that does not accord with the primitive 
church. [But here we would make the same remark which we made 



1 [-A-pol. I. c. 67. Kal rfj tov rftdov ?ieyo/j.evrj "rjfiEpa ttuvtuv Kara 7rb?,ecg r/ aypovg 
fievovruv em ~b av~b ovvelevoig yivzrcu, Kal tu anorrvy/iovev/xaTa ruv utzogtoAuv, Jj to. 
avy/pufifiara tuv 7rpo<j)7)Tiov avayivuGKerai [iexP L Q iyxcopel. Etra navaafievov tov avayt- 
vucwovTog, 6 nposardc Sta loyov ttjv vovdeaiav nal npotO-ijciv Trjg tljv nakuv tovtuv 
(iLfifoeug Tioietrat. "Eiret-a uvtcTufie^a kolv?) Kuvreg, nai d'X&g ^EfinOftev • nal, ug ~poi- 
qrifiev, Travoafiivov f/puv rfjg evxvs, "p"''? npocQeperat ml olvog nal vdop ■ nal 6 Trpoeardg 
ebxag 6fj.oiug Kal evxapicnac, bar) bvvaiuq avro), avaTrefnrei, Kal 6 labg kirevtyrifiel teyvv rb 
U/J.T/V • Kal i] dtadoaig kuI rj fxeraArjxptg u~b tojv evxapioTT]-&evT(ov ekcigtu yiverat.] 



490 DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 

on the preceding paragraph. Besides the misinterpretation of 1 Tim. 3 : 
2 (a consequence and a cause of much error), the mention of 'the sacer- 
dotal catalogue,' and perhaps some other things in these canons seem 
to betray an ascetic, hierarchical, and Judaizing spirit and tendency.] 

The four canons which follow (xxi. xxn. xxiii. and xxiv.), decree 
that he who has mutilated himself, never be made a clergyman ; and 
that, if a clergyman has mutilated himself, he be deposed ; but if a lay- 
man, that he be separated from communion three years. Daille has, I 
think, correctly remarked, that canons have not been established and 
promulgated in the church, before some fact gave occasion for their being 
introduced. But, if we examine the history of the primitive church, 
whether there may be any example which might have given occasion for 
these canons, we do not search long in vain. From the preceding part 
of our discussion, it followed, that our canons were at least more ancient 
than the Nicene Council. Epiphanius, that most grave reprover of 
heretics, describes at large the heresy of the Valesians, who mutilated 
themselves. (Ha?res. Vales. 58. Elol de navzeg (knoaonoo.) But let 
us recollect that bloody act which all know the most celebrated teacher 
of the early church to have performed upon himself ; Origen I mean, 
who, borne away by insane and perverse juvenile ardor, perpetrated 
against himself such a crime. It is in the highest degree probable that 
these canons were not in existence when this deed was performed by 
Origen ; a deed which, in the circumstances, may easily have occasioned 
the establishment of these canons, forbidding, under penalty of being 
deposed or separated, that any similar act be done under the semblance 
of piety. 

Although we assign also to this time canons xxv. and xxvi., as being 
consonant with apostolic doctrine, yet we do not assign to it canon xxvu., 
because there is in it a mention of the minor orders ; about which cir- 
cumstance we have already spoken. 

Nor can we in any manner accede to the opinion of Daille, who, with 
arguments that are not valid, impugns the antiquity even of canon xxviii. 
This canon commands that a Bishop, Presbyter, or Deacon, striking 
believers who sin, or unbelievers who do an injury, be deposed. I do 
not see how any one can deny that, in 1 Tim. 3 : 2 — , and in Tit. 1 : 7, 
the foundation is contained on which this canon rests. That apostolic 
men, therefore, could have sanctioned this canon, will be manifest to all 
who consider the matter without partiality. 

Let us now proceed to discuss the question concerning the canons, 
from xxx. to xxxiv. ; all which I think to have been framed in the 
middle of the third century. Let us more accurately inspect their con- 
tents. Do they not place the image of the third century before our 



WHEN EACH ORIGINATED. 491 

eyes ? Now there was provision to be made by a canon, lest any one 
obtain the office of a Bishop by means of the secular powers. How 
abhorent this is from the apostolic age, we need not say. But after- 
wards, in the third century, audacious men, to the detriment of the 
church, obtained the episcopate in an unworthy manner. Other canons 
Very much favor the dignity of that office. In these precepts we see the 
beginnings of the hierarchy. 1 And any one most easily understands 
that several of these canons were written to exalt the dignity of the 
Bishop, and increase his power. 

In canons xxxix. xl. and xli., there are similar efforts to commend 
the episcopal honor and dignity. In canon xxxix., it is authoritatively 
declared that the Bishop shall have care of the ecclesiastical revenues, 
and administer them as in the presence of God (*«t dioixefaoj o.vx<x &g Oeov 
eyoowvTog). Nay, canon xl. directs that Presbyters and Deacons per- 
form nothing without the Bishop. These are the beginnings and foun- 
dations from which the hierarchy was elevated to its highest eminence. 
In view of these facts, who does not acknowledge that these canons were 
not only well known and spread abroad in the third century, but also 
that there were in them the germs of regulations which the Papal 
church in later times has used as the basis of her system ? 

Moreover, they decide another thing pertaining to ecclesiastical disci- 
pline, concerning which, in the third century, there had arisen great 
discord ; namely, concerning the revenues which were to be paid to the 
Bishops. Although the priests often imposed on the laymen a greater 
tribute than was proper, yet they often endeavored in vain to collect it. 
Our forty-first canon deduced from the religion of the Jews the layman's 
duty of paying to the priest ; since they who wait at the altar (Deut. 18) 
are also maintained by the altar. 2 And this also accords with the 
habits of the third century ; when it was believed that the Christian 
church is to be formed and regulated after the model of the Jewish 
church, and the priesthood of the Christians after the model of the 
Levitical priesthood. 

Concerning the antiquity of canon xxxv., in which the authority of 



1 Can. xxxi. El rig emaKorcog koo/ilkois upxovai x? r l aa l l ^ v ^ v0 ^ &' clvtuv eynparrjc 
ykvqrai EKulTjolag, Ka&aipeiod co ml tMpopt&G&G), ml ol notvovovvreg avru rruvreg. Can. 
xxxix. Uuvtuv tuv enK.'?i7]ciaoTuccJv TcpayftuTuv 6 eixIgkottoq exeru ttjv tipovrida, mi 
dtotKELTu avru, ug -&eov koopuvTog "... Can. XL. Ol -xpEnfivTEpoi not Slukovol uvsv yvufi^g 
tov emamTTOv fXTjdsv eirireTislTuaav • \ . . Can. xli. Jlpoaruaao/xev tov e^lgkotcov h^ovciav 
kxetv tuv rrjg eKK?.7]oiag npayfittTuv . . . ugte mra ttjv clvtov egovoiav navra diot- 
Kelcr&ai . . . 

2 f O yup vbiiog tov $eov dieru^aro, Tovg r<p dvcLaorrtpit) VTcripETOvvrag ek tov tivcicao- 

TT]pl0V Tp£(j)EO&ai. 



492 DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 

Metropolitan bishops is established, we find a contest still undecided. 
Daille vehemently assails the canon, and denies its antiquity. But 
although in the true and undoubted monuments of the apostles we 
readily concede to Daille that there appears no vestige of the Metro- 
politans, yet we must oppose him in respect to this canon. Great force 
and great influence, in our opinion, ought to be attributed to the fact 
that the Nicene Council called the privileges of the Metropolitans, the 
ancient customs (ra &Q%aTa Wrj). And, indeed, the Nicene Council estab- 
lishes nothing on this subject as a new arrangement ; but, rather, 
directs that the ancient usages continue. As the testimony in this case 
can in no way be weakened, it is right to conclude that the privileges of 
the Metropolitans were in use long before the Nicene Council. 

All agree in acknowledging the antiquity of canons xxxvi. and 
xxxvu. ; nor have I any thing which I might bring forward against the 
origin of them in the apostolic age. [But still we ought to bear in 
mind the following considerations: 1. That here the distinction be- 
tween a Bishop and a Presbyter is such as is nowhere found in the 
genuine writings of the apostles. 2. That here cities and countries are 
spoken of as being subject (inoy.ei^isvai) to a Bishop ; and Bishops are 
spoken of as holding, possessing, or governing, those cities or countries 
(xaiexdvTFQ lug ttoIsi; Iv.elvug \ lug /(bqug^ ; whereas, in the Acts of the 
Apostles, 20 : 17 — 28, a very different style is used in reference to the 
elders or presbyters (ngeoSvieQovg) of the church at Ephesus, whom the 
apostle Paul charged to take heed to themselves and to all the flock over 
which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers or bishops (ernaxoVnu-c). 
In the age of the apostles, the pastor took oversight of the flock, and 
was bishop of the church in this or that place. In the age of these 
canons, he claimed jurisdiction over the whole place. 3. That the arro- 
gant and lordly tone with which the thirty-seventh canon closes, indi- 
cates not the apostolic but later times.] Indeed, I can say nothing 
against canon xxxviii. although there is in it a mention of Pentecost. 1 
For, in ancient ecclesiastical writers, Pentecost is found in a double 
sense. Besides one festive day, it signifies also the whole interval of 
fifty days between the Passover and Pentecost ; and in this more ex- 
tended sense there is sometimes mention of Pentecost in the ecclesias- 
tical writers of the second century. 

Concerning the canons which follow next, we have already given an 



1 Can. xxxviii. Aevrepov rov t'ovg cvvodoc yivecrdu tuv kniononuv, koI avanptvETo- 
cav u/Jkij'kovc; ~a duy^ara ryg Evae^eiaq nal Tag sfXTrnrrovoac; ennljioiaoTiKag uvrO.oyiac 
dialvETUcav ■ chra£ (iev ttj TErdprrj ifJdofiadt rrjg tcsvttjkoottjc;, devrepov 6s VTrepfjeperalov 



WHEN EACH ORIGINATED. 493 

opinion. Here it will be sufficient to remark that, even in canons xliv. 
and xlv., there is nothing dissonant from apostolic doctrine ; [but in re- 
spect to all these canons (from the forty-second to the forty -fifth, inclu- 
sive), and to others where bishops are introduced as belonging to an 
order entirely distinct from that of presbyters, and where sub-deacons, 
readers, and others of the minor clerical orders are mentioned, we must 
be permitted to doubt their having come from the apostolic age, until 
some proof be adduced.] 

In canons xlvi. xlvii. and xlviii. the baptism of heretics is repre- 
sented as a defilement by which every one who participates with them 
becomes exposed to damnation ; and, under penalty of being deposed, a 
Bishop or Presbyter is forbidden to rebaptize one who has been truly 
baptized. 1 To what age, then, would we adjudge these canons ? We refer 
them, most confidently, to the end of the third century, there having arisen, 
at length, in the third century, controversies respecting the baptism of 
heretics. Nor did any controversy on this subject arise before the two 
councils at Carthage had confirmed the ancient custom of baptizing 
heretics, and Stephen, Bishop of Rome, had rejected their decrees. It 
would here be out of place to expatiate on this discord concerning the 
baptism of heretics. But every one will understand that our canons 
could not have been written at any other time than about the end of the 
third century, when there was enkindled on this subject a most bitter 
controversy. 

We must now speak concerning canons xlix. and l. 2 Canon xlix. 
inculcates that baptism be administered in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ; and canon l. forbids that any Bishop 
or Presbyter, under penalty of being deposed, perform merely one im- 
mersion given in reference to the death of the Lord, instead of three 
immersions pertaining to one initiation. All must acknowledge it to 
have been a very ancient custom to immerse three times those who 
were baptized. But, nevertheless, we deny the apostolic origin of these 
canons. For, without any doubt, they are directed against that kind of 
heretics who, instead of the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 
used this formula in baptizing : ' I baptize thee into the death of 



1 Can. xltii. 'F.ttlgkottoc i) irpeG^vTepoc tov kot' u/Jjdeiav exovtcl f3u7TTio/j.a lav avo- 
■&EV ftaTTTiGTj, rj tov fMefjioXvafxivov Tzapu. Tuv uasfiuv kuv fiTj (3a.Krior), K.a-&a.ipei.G-&c), uc 
ye2.tuv tov aravpov nai tov tov Kvplov duvarov, nal (itj dtaKpivtov lepiac tuv ipevdieptiuv. 

2 Can. l. El nc ettigkottoc y 7rpsG ; 3vTepoc, [irj Tpia (iairTLGfiaTa fzidc (ivtjgeuq Itute- 
TiSGij, uXa' ev j3uTTTiGfj.a elc rbv •duva.Tov tov Kvplov didofievov, KatiaipuGdid • ov yap el~ev 
6 icvpuK, E'c tov davaTov fiov Su-ricar^ aKKa UopevfiivTsg fia^TjTei'GaTS TzavTa Ta £#77, 
3a-ri~ovT£" avrovc dc to bvoua tov -UTpbc nal tov vlov nal tov aylov TzveifxaTOC. 



494 DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 

Christ/ Eunomius, an Arian, as he denied the divinity of the Son and 
of the Holy Spirit, wished not to baptize by trine immersion, but only 
into the death of Christ. Of this fact Socrates informs us in his Ecclesi- 
astical History, b. v. c. 24. From this account, therefore, it is exceed- 
ingly clear when these canons were brought into existence. For they 
were framed for the purpose of abolishing the perverse practice of those 
heretics. 

Let us now pass to the second part of the canons, which, for a long 
time, was not received at all in the Latin church, but obtained among 
the Greeks the same authority which they accorded to the first part. 

It has seemed to me right to agree with the learned men who have 
treated concerning them, that, in canons li. liii. and the eight next fol- 
lowing, nothing opposes our referring their origin to the apostolic age. 
For they exhibit certain general regulations which can be promulgated 
at almost any time. But the case is different with canons lii. and lxil, 
which are expressly opposed to those who affirm that a returning peni- 
tent ought not to be readmitted. 1 They examine this error, and direct 
that those who had fallen away, be received. "We know very well, that, 
in the third century, this rigor against the lapsed arose from the Nova- 
tian controversies. To this time, therefore, we assign both the canons. 

Several of the other canons (lxtii. lxv. lxvi. lxvii. lxx. lxxi. and 
lxxii) no one has assailed ; but all allow them a very high antiquity. . . 

But our canon lxiv. must be subjected to a more careful examination. 
It forbids that any one fast on the Lord's day, or on the Sabbath, except 
one only, to w r it, the Great or ante-Paschal, — [the Saturday before 
Easter.] 2 Although the observance which our canon exhibits in re- 
spect to fasting, is not so ancient as to reach the apostolic age, yet we 
cannot refer it to so late a time as Daille assigns to it. For Tertullian 
(De Coron. Milit. c. 3) assures us that, in his time, the observance 
prevailed which our canon commends. And also, from Epiphanius and 
other writers of the fourth century, it can easily be seen that, not only 
among the Montanists but also among the orthodox, this custom was 
very common in the third century. Canon lxix. enjoins, under the 
heaviest penalty, the fast of Lent, commencing the fortieth day (Quadra- 
gesima) before Easter, and the fasts on Wednesday and Friday (the 
fourth day of the week, and the day of the Preparation). Besides, in 



1 Can. lii. Ei rtc emoKonog ?) 7rpeoj3vTepoc rbv emarpidovra unb ufiapnag ov 7rpocd£- 
XSTai, &7&J tnro{3a?2erai, KadaLpeiod co, on "KvKel xP LOT ov rbv sinovTa, x a P<i yiverat iv 
ovpavCi knl h>l u/iapruTuj fieravoovvra. 

2 Can. lxiv. Ei tic K-TirjpiKbg evpe-dy ttjv itvpianyv rj/nepav vi]arivuv rj to cd'33aTov 
nlfjv tov hog (ibvov, nadaipeio&u ' el 6h AaiVcof, ucfiopi^ear&o). 



WHEN EACH ORIGINATED. 495 

this canon itself, the inferior clerical orders are mentioned, which not 
obscurely indicates the time of its origin ; and the rest of its contents, 
indeed, confirms this indication. 1 I am fully convinced that the 
ecclesiastical law, here presented, was not received earlier than in the 
third century. There are, however, among the learned, some who 
endeavor to vindicate the apostolic origin of this Fast of Lent, appealing 
to passages of Jerome and Augustin, who derive the custom from apos- 
tolic tradition. But with these Fathers, the expressions used in those 
passages are general forms of speaking, which are by no means to be 
perverted. It is evident, on the contrary, from the concurring state- 
ments of writers in the third century and in the fourth, that the Fast, as 
here regulated, was not observed till in the third century. 

Against the antiquity of canon lxxiii. learned men have mentioned 
well-founded objections. For where, in this canon, it is forbidden that 
any one appropriate to his own use a vessel of silver or of gold, or a cur- 
tain that has been consecrated, 2 it follows that, at the time when the canon 
was framed, the Christians had sacred edifices and precious vessels. . . . 
"We, therefore, place this canon in the beginning of the third century, 
when it is most certain that spacious and costly buildings for Christian 
worship were erected. 

But we readily acknowledge the very high antiquity of the next fol- 
lowing canons, as far as to the eighty-fourth ; since [in most points] 
they do not depart from the simplicity of the apostolic age. Only this it 
seems proper to remark against canon lxxxii., that in the words as our 
Onesimus appeared (diog ' Ovqcn.uo;, 6 fijuhegog apeqxxvi]), it endeavors to 
impose on the reader a false author. This, although it does not pertain 
to the subject of which the canon treats, throws upon it an unfavorable 
suspicion ; [which is not a little increased by the apparent assumption of 
unlimited power for councils of Bishops in canon lxxiv. and by the 
mention of ' the sacerdotal administration' in canon lxxxiil] 

The eighty-third canon rejects the practice of those who obtain at the 
same time an office in the Roman government and in the church. 3 In 
this, regard is probably had to the proceeding in the Council at Antioch 



1 Can. lxx. E£ ng eTvcGKOTrog y TtpecpvTepog y dtanovog y avayvuGTyg y i[>a.?i,Tyg ttjv 
uyiav reooapaicooTr/v tov itaoxa y rerpaSa y Tvapacnevyv ov v7]otevol, Kadaipeia-&co y euros 
el pj] (V uodevetav GopaTinyv ep,7Todi,£oiTO ■ el 6e lainbg ety, a(popi£eG$o. 

2 Can. lxxiii. Ztcevog xpvoovv y dpyvpovv uytao-dev y oftovyv pydelg en elg olneiav 
XP?i<Jiv Gfperepi&odu- Tra.pavop.ov yap- el 6e rig (pupa-deiy, emnfiacdu) a^optop-cp. 

3 Can. lxxxiii. 'EnicKOTrog y TrpeGfivTepog y dianovog Giparela gxo?m£uv nal (3ov/,6pe- 
vog uptporepa narexuv, 'Fupa'inyv apxyv nal lepanayv dioiicqaiv, natiaipeiGd-u • to. yap tov 
na'tGapog Kaicapc, nal to. tov ■deov tu &eu. 



496 DISSERTATION ON THE CANONS. 

[A.D. 269], which deposed Paul of Samosata, because, among other 
offences, he was occupied as a secular magistrate. 

It remains that we speak concerning the last of these canons. Scarce- 
ly any one of them bears upon itself more openly than this the vestiges 
of a late time. It is therefore easy to fix the age of its origin. This 
canon presents a catalogue of the sacred books of the New Testament, 
enumerating all those which it deems canonical. . . . Even the two 
epistles of Clement, and the Constitutions, are set forth in it as being 
apostolical. If now we institute a comparison between this canon and 
the catalogue of canonical books which Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical 
History, b. iii. c. 25, has given us, we readily perceive that our canon was 
not fabricated till in the end of the fourth century, when the books 
just now mentioned, which it proclaims to be canonical, were brought 
into the canon of the Sacred Scriptures. And, if we inquire why it 
was fabricated, the answer is easy and prompt, — that by its aid spu- 
rious books might be commended. 

In view of this discussion, who is there that will not maintain with us, 
that our canons were formed at different times in the churches denom- 
inated apostolical [or through the influence exerted by such], and that 
they were afterwards gathered into the collection which we now possess ? 
[Especially, since, in harmony with this conclusion, we can so far accede 
to the opinion of Bishop Beveridge, as to believe that many of them had, 
by various councils, been approved and set forth as being agreeable to 
the doctrine of the apostles.] 



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